Hershey's Chewy Chocolate & Chip Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 cup cocoa

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 package (12-oz.) chocolate, peanut butter, or vanilla chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until well-blended. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture until well blended. Stir in chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 6-8 minutes or until set. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Unbelievably Awesome Barbeque Chicken Pizza

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• 1 tablespoon sesame oil (or olive oil if you don't have any)
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half
• 1/4 cup barbeque sauce, divided
• 1/2 cup marinara sauce
• 1 (16 ounce) package pre-baked pizza crust (or make quick dough in the bread machine and bake it for 10 minutes before toppings are added)
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced red or white onion
• tomato slices (optional)
• bacon bits  (optional)
• a dash or two of cayenne pepper  (optional)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat the sesame oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the chicken breast in the skillet, and top with 1 tablespoon barbeque sauce. Cook 10 minutes, turn, and top with 1 tablespoon barbeque sauce. Continue cooking 10 minutes, until juices run clear. Cool slightly, and cut into chunks.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
3. In a small bowl, mix the remaining barbeque sauce and marinara sauce. Spread evenly over the pizza crust. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Arrange cooked chicken chunks and red onion slices over the top. Add any additional toppings you may want.
4. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from heat, sprinkle with cilantro, and let sit 10 minutes before slicing.

EXTRAS:

- Makes 6 servings

- Prep time: 15 min, Bake time: about 30 minutes

- Calories: 359 | Total Fat: 11.1g | Cholesterol: 32mg

Simply Delicious Scones

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• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
• 1/2 cup raisins (or craisins, blueberries, chocolate chips, etc.)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in butter (mixture should resemble coarse meal), then stir in raisins.
3. In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.
4. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)
5. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with parchment paper), about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

ALTERNATE OPTIONS:

• Cranberry-Orange Scones:  

  • Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding a generous teaspoon of finely grated orange rind (zest) to the dry ingredients and substituting dried cranberries for the raisins.
• Lemon-Blueberry Scones:  

  • Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding a generous teaspoon of finely grated lemon rind (zest) to the dry ingredients and substituting dried blueberries for the raisins.
• Cherry-Almond Scones: 

  • Follow the recipe for Simple Scones, adding 1/2 tsp. almond extract to the sour cream mixture and substituting dried cherries for the raisins.
  
  

  EXTRAS:

  • - Makes 8 servings... or less and then you can eat more... :)

  • - Prep time: about 20 minutes, Bake time: 15 minutes

  • - 

  • • Calories: 319 | Total Fat: 15.5g | Cholesterol: 63mg- 

Lemon Garlic Tilapia

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• 4 tilapia fillets  (or any other kind of fish)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or less - the lemon can be a little overpowering)
• 2 tablespoon butter, melted
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• pepper to taste
• chili powder (optional)
• parmesan (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Rinse tilapia fillets under cool water, and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Place fillets in baking dish. Sautée the garlic, lemon juice, parsley, and pepper in the butter and drizzle on top of the fish. Sprinkle on chili powder and parmesan if you so desire.
4. Bake in preheated oven until the fish is white and flakes when pulled apart with a fork, about 10 minutes.

(yummy side options: asparagus and white rice)

EXTRAS:

- 3-4 servings

- 10 min prep time and 10 minutes cook time

- Calories: 142, Total Fat: 4.4g, Cholesterol: 49mg