Chef Marie: Baking and Cooking

Need a caffeine pick up? Try making a homemade cafe mocha with a few simple ingredients! Here is what you'll need: - 1 tsp. drinking chocolate powder - 1 serving of coffee (I use a Starbucks Keurig cup) - 1/4 cup milk to steam or froth - 1 tsp. honey  First I put the drinking chocolate in the bottom of the cup. Then, I brew the coffee and stir it.  Steam the milk with a milk frother. Top he coffee cup with the steamed milk. Add some honey to sweeten the drink. And there you have it! A delicious cafe mocha that is easy to make! 

So I found a recipe on Pinterest that looked so delicious! It is a recipe that includes pretzel dough and cookie dough. It took me almost 3 hours to finish it, but it is really good. The tricky part is rolling the dough once the cookie dough is inside it. Mine wasn't rolled up as neatly as the website had done theirs, but in the end it tasted like a sweet and salty treat! They are also huge, so you will have lots of leftover pretzel cookies! The recipe I used was from this link:  http://www.halfbakedharvest.com/warm-chocolate-chip-cookie-stuffed-soft-pretzels/  (Half Baked Harvest)  I did not have any salt, so I made do without it. They still taste great! In the future I am going to roll them up better so they look more like pretzels!  Hope you enjoy these! Here are my pictures; the pictures on the website are much more photogenic.  Marie 

Making a PB&J Banana Smoothie is easy and it tastes delicious. Recently I bought a jar of peanut butter with jelly mixed in, called Goobers. I was craving some peanut butter and jelly crackers, but I ran out of crackers. Instead, I was curious and search on Google peanut butter and jelly smoothies. I ended up improvising, but the result was amazing. Here are the ingredients that you'll need: - 3 Tbs. peanut butter - 2 Tbs. jelly (I used the mixed jar of PB&J, so I put in about 3 Tbs. total) - 2 chopped bananas - 1 Tbs. honey - 2 cups milk - 1 cup ice Combine all of these ingredients together in a blender, and blend for a few minutes, or until smooth. Enjoy this delicious smoothie!

Sopapillas can be a difficult dessert to make. I have made them two times in the last few months, and they are hard to get just right! I do not have a deep fryer, so I use a deep pan on the stove instead. It is important to get the oil to the right the temperature, or else the sopapillas will not become puffy; they might burn instead. It is important to try the recipe more than once. Just because the sopapillas do not turn out the first time you make them, doesn't mean you shouldn't try making them again!  Here is the recipe I used, adjusted from All Recipes.com:  - 1 2/3 cups of flour - 3/4 tsp. baking powder - 1 tbs. and 2 tsp. shortening/butter - 1/2 cup and 2 tbs. warm water - enough oil to fill the pan about 1 inch deep Directions: - Combine the flour, baking powder and softened butter in a large bowl. - Add the warm water and stir well. - Roll out the dough and create 3 inch square shapes. - Heat the oil in the pan for about 5 minutes, or until it is piping ...

Here's an easy recipe to make a delicious salad! Ingredients: - 1 large cucumber  - 4 Roma tomatoes  - 3 tbs. oil - 2 tbs. vinegar - A few dashes of pepper Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate it for 1 hour. There you have it! An easy, flavorful salad!

This a recipe for Easy Enchiladas! When I usually look up enchiladas, I do not have always have the correct ingredients (soup, salsa etc). Nonetheless, you can still make great enchiladas with minimal ingredients. Here is what I use to make these delicious enchiladas: - 6 flour tortillas - 1 can of mild enchilada sauce - About 1/2 bag of frozen chicken (or any type of chicken that you have) - 2 cups of shredded cheese - 2 tomatoes - Black olives - Sour cream How to make Easy Enchiladas: 1. Preheat the oven to about 375 degrees. 2. Prepare the chicken. I microwaved the frozen chicken for a few minutes. 3. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces. 4. Mix the tomatoes and chicken together and cook on the stove for 5 minutes, just to let the 2 flavors mix together better. 5. Place a few spoonfuls of the chicken tomato mix inside each tortilla. 6. Put a little sprinkled cheese inside each tortillas. 7. Roll up the tortillas and place them in a greased baking dish. 8. Pour the ...

On the Internet I have seen many people put fruit slices in their water. At first, I was weary to try this because I thought the fruit wouldn't actually flavor the water, but it did! The first time I made fruit infused water I used oranges. I cut some slices of orange and put them in a bottle of cold water. The longer the fruit remains in the bottle, the stronger the fruit taste. A few weeks ago I made fruit water using oranges and strawberries. It was delicious!  This fruit infused water can be a healthier alternative for sweet drinks. Try replacing your juice, iced tea or soda with a bottle of fruit infused water. There are many fruits that you can choose, so the combinations are endless! My favorites are oranges + blueberries and raspberries + lemons. Strawberries + Oranges - Infused fruit water