Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my beloved, go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. Growing up, I loved making chocolate chip cookies, so it's become kind of a nostalgic thing. My family is a little obsessed with chocolate chip cookies. My dad actually throws out parts of the cookie that don't have any chocolate to offer.
 
 
I started using this recipe that I got from one of my sisters a few years ago and it's my favorite. There's no white sugar, only brown sugar. I've adapted it along the way, so here's the recipe:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine:
 
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 egg

Mix well. Add:

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda

Mix well. Add 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips (I prefer semi sweet. Or, if I'm feeling fancy, 60% dark). Try not to eat too much of the dough.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. They are best right out of the oven of course. Enjoy!

Small Serving Brownies

Who doesn't have a Pinterest board dedicated to desserts? I sure do. The Craving Chronicles is to thank for this one. I made these brownies last night and they were SO good. The best part is that there was just enough for two (one for me, one for hubs) so there was no temptation to binge. I am trying to be more french, after all.

I followed the recipe as is, EXCEPT that, sadly, I did not have dark unsweetened cocoa powder. I just added a little extra of the regular cocoa powder and put in slightly less sugar than what is called for. And I didn't add the optional chocolate chips. What's your favorite Pinterest dessert?

Homemade Yogurt in a Crock Pot

This next pin was actually a series of pins from Creative Simple Life, Money Saving Mom, and Our Life Simplified. For some reason, I was really intimidated to do the homemade yogurt thing, so I kept looking for more posts about it. Turns out it is really easy and nothing to be afraid of. I took some hints from each post. Here's what to do:

Ingredients:

1/2 gallon whole milk (which is 8 cups)
1/2 cup plain yogurt with live-active cultures

Directions:

1. Pour milk into crock pot and turn on low. Let milk sit for about 2.5 hours (or just before boiling).
2. Turn off crock pot, unplug, and let it sit for about 3 hours.
3. Put 1/2 cup yogurt into small container and mix with a small amount of the milk from crock pot and mix well. Pour that mixture back into crock pot and mix well.
4. Wrap crock pot in a towel and put crock pot in a place where it won't be bothered. Let sit 8-12 hours.
5. Put yogurt in containers and refrigerate for a few hours before enjoying.

I probably referred to the Money Saving Mom post the most, but found good information on all the sites I listed. I really like the yogurt, especially with fruit, granola, chocolate chips, or any combo of those. It's also yummy on top of pancakes.

Wheat Penne With Sausage, Swiss Chard, and Raisins

I have Martha to thank for this one. I adjusted a few things, so check out her recipe. Here is my modified version:

Ingredients: 

1 pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed

1 pound Swiss chard, tough stems removed, leaves cut into thin strips 

2 garlic cloves, crushed

Pepper 

1 pound whole wheat penne 

3/4 cup raisins, plumped in boiling water and drained 

Sprinkles of Parmesan cheese

 

Directions: 

1. Cook sausage, breaking it up, until browned. Add chard, garlic, and pepper. Cook, tossing, until chard wilts.

2. Cook pasta until al dente, according to package directions. When pasta is just about done, add raisins. Drain pasta and raisin mixture, and return to pot.

3. Add sausage mixture to pasta and raisins and sprinkle with Parmesan as desired.

Removing the sausage from the casings is pretty unpleasant. What's the best way to do that? I hate touching raw meat. That said, I will for sure make this again. All the flavors in this recipe were so great together. I think it would be really good with the pine nuts that are in Martha's recipe, but I didn't splurge for those this time. The garlic really made this dish amazing.