Single-serve Homemade Cookies

I'm not saying it's hot here in Southern California, but two Hobbits just threw a ring in my backyard and then fainted. The last thing I want to do right now is turn on an oven. Of course, that doesn't stop me from wanting fresh, homemade cookies, because DUH.

What, oh what, is a girl to do?

Allow me to present the freezer method for single- (or quadruple-) serve fresh, homemade cookies. This method works best for-- Well, I've really only tried it with chocolate chip cookies. I imagine it works with most drop cookies. I am guessing that this method is limited only by your imagination, but I don't know for certain. YMMV

You will need:
+Baking sheet
+Lining for the baking sheet (I've used both aluminum and parchment equally well)
+Freezer

Make your cookie dough like normal. I suppose you could buy the dough if you wanted, but why would you want to, when the part that takes the longest is the baking? Anyway, make up your dough. Then drop your cookies onto a lined baking sheet like normal. If you're making peanut butter cookies, go ahead and use the fork to make your cross-hatch marks. However you normally get your dough ready for baking. EXCEPT, instead of giving the dough room to spread, you can put them as close together as you can get them without actually touching each other.

Partway through the process. Fill the whole tray! Depending on your recipe, you may need more than one.

Pop the tray in the freezer. You want to give the dough-servings enough time so that they're fairly hard and won't stick to each other. I try to give them an hour, although I've been known to get distracted and remember they're still in there two days later. That's a bit long, and depending on the state of your freezer, it might be too long, but so far I've been lucky.  :)

At the end of your hour (or days, whatever), grab a freezer bag (or two) and write the baking instructions on the bag. You probably want to identify what the recipe is, too. Something like "Chocolate chip cookies. Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes" or whatever the instructions are for your recipe. Now, since the dough has been frozen, you'll want to give them a couple of extra minutes, but you won't need too much more than that. Then pull your tray, pop the dough into the freezer bag, squeeze all the excess air out, and pop back in the freezer.

I added two minutes to both sides, to give them a bit of thaw-time.

The next time you want fresh baked cookies, you won't have to bake an entire batch. If you want, you can bake only one or four in your toaster oven. (This is especially useful on One-Ring days when using the full oven is simply not an option.) Just follow the instructions you wrote on the outside of your bag.

Just put them in the toaster oven.

Oh yeah! Almost there...

Voila! Homemade, single-/quadruple-serve cookies.

Are you SURE they should cool first?

Delicious!

No. It totally came out of the oven that way. I swear!

I don't know how long they'll last in your freezer before they get freezer burnt. I did once forget about a bag I had (can you believe it?) and by the time I found them again half a year later, they were getting a little freezer burnt, so they won't last forever. But they'll last longer than they would in your fridge.

Quesadillas

I know, I know, quesadillas are so easy.  All you do is take two tortillas, slap some cheese in between, and stick them in the microwave.  Right?  Right.

I make mine a little differently, and The Dude likes them, so I figured I share...

Ingredients:
2 tortillas, corn or flour
Trader Joe's Shredded Cheese
Butter

Instructions:
Apply a thin, thin layer of butter to one side of tortilla #1, and warm it it in a skillet.  Turn it over once it's a little crispy.  Place it on a plate.  Apply butter to tortilla #2, and after you turn it, add shredded cheese to the top.  I drop it in a circular motion, so that it doesn't all clump up.  Place tortilla #1 on top and add a sprinkling of cheese.  When the cheese in the center is just a little melted, turn over and add a sprinkling of cheese to the top.

What this does is makes for a crispy cheese tortilla -taste on the outside while the melty-gooey cheese is on the inside.

When it is to my crisp liking, I place it on the cutting board and cut into eight pieces.  The Dude gets 3-4 at a time, and the others pieces go into the fridge for another day.


Notes:

This is also delicious with chicken, although The Dude won't eat it if I make it that way.  You can use Marion's Amazing Salsa Verde Chicken, but make sure you have more salsa verde.

You don't have to use butter--it tastes fine and less rich without it.  

Breakfast Yogurt

Yogurt with honey.
I am out of fresh fruit today.

I eat yogurt for breakfast every day.  At least, I have for the past couple of months.  I'm sure I'll tire of it at some point, but until then... yogurt, it is.  It's filling, it's healthy, and it's really tasty.  Also, on normal days, it helps ensure that I get some fruit in me.  I've been stuck inside with a sick kid for four days, so that day is not today.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Trader Joe's plain Greek yogurt
Honey
Fresh fruit in season

Instructions:
Scoop yogurt into a bowl.  Drizzle honey on the yogurt.  Top with fruit.

Notes:
I ONLY use Trader Joe's Play Greek Yogurt.  It's the best yogurt I have ever tasted--thick, creamy, and tart.  I use full fat, because I don't like the idea of putting all the crap they have to put into low- or non-fat items to make them palatable, although this does list "non-fat milk" as an ingredient.

So.  Much.  Yum.

I put the honey on before I add the fruit because the fruit isn't what needs to be sweetened.

I use a lot of fruit.  I'll post another photo when I've been to the market and actually have fruit in the house.

You can tweak this by adding cereal, mixing different types of fruit, etc.

Yes, I do measure out half a cup.

Marion's Amazing Salsa Verde Chicken

My good friend Marion brings this in a crock pot to events and it's always a hit, so I wanted to try my hand at making it. She was gracious and gave me her recipe. It is the easiest recipe ever. And still I messed it up the first time by leaving it cooking in the crock pot for too long, which made the chicken dry. I also only used one scoop of coconut oil for five breasts (because I wasn't paying close attention to the recipe; I put everything together at 5:15 in the morning before I went to work that day.) and it just wasn't coconuty enough, although still delicious.  I served it atop rice.

This is great for leftovers, which may have been tastier than the meal we had the first night, since they had two days to marinade.

Ingredients:

Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde

Four large chicken breasts

One white onion

a bunch of cilantro

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 lime

Instructions:

Chop the onion into half rings and chop the cilantro into bits. Mix. I put them in a plastic baggie the night before, which made it easy to mix by squishing around, so that I wouldn't have to chop onions first thing in the morning. Rinse chicken.

Place one-third of the onion and cilantro mixture on the bottom of crock pot with one third of jar of salsa verde. Layer two chicken breasts on top. Add another layer of cilantro, onion, and salsa, and another layer of chicken breasts. Add the rest of the cilantro, onion, and salsa. Top with coconut oil and the juice of 1 lime

Cook at high 4-5 hours or low 7-8 hours.  

Can put shredded cheddar on top. I did not, the first time.

Notes:

Do not overcook!!!

* For five breasts use two onions if you like it oniony (I do!), 2 jars of salsa, 2 limes, 2 bunches of cilantro. But I like to use onion and cilantro as veggies in recipes like this, and I like sauce, so this is perfect for me.

Z prefers less onions. This is fine, because I ate them all.