Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I don't like cookies usually but this is yummy!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Potato Watercress Soup

I never could use the watercress I bought and now I found a great way to use this nutritious vegetable. I loved this soup!

Potato Watercress Soup:
1 pound baby red potatoes
1 sweet onion
4 cloves garlic
1 t red pepper
1/2 t paprika
salt + pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (Lucini Italia)
1/4 cup sherry
4 cups organic free-range chicken broth
2 bundles watercress

Slice up your onion along with peeled and crushed garlic and add them to a large pot with the oil. Season with paprika, salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes or until the onions begin to brown. Scrub clean the potatoes and half-heartedly peel (good to leave some skin). Chop into quarters and add to the pot. Toss the potatoes so they are well coated and cook for another 8 minutes. Add sherry and cook off for 1 minute. Follow with chicken broth and let simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes can be easily punctured with a fork. Add the watercress for 1 minute—just long enough to keep the lovely bright green color. Remove from heat and add small batches to your blender until entire mixture is smooth. Garnish with a few raw watercress leaves, s+p, dollop of olive oil drizzle, and a pinch of paprika and/or truffle oil.

Hearty Broccoli Dip

This recipe came from Taste of Home. I made this for a couple times and everyone loved it! It's not the healthiest thing of my choice but certainly a favorite of the crowd. I use ground chicken instead of beef.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cubed
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
• 3 cups frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
• 2 tablespoons salsa
• Tortilla chips

Directions

In a large skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker. Add cheese, soup, broccoli and salsa; mix well. Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours or until heated through, stirring after 1 hour. Serve with tortilla chips. Yield: 5-1/2 cups.

Avocado Milkshake

This is another yummy recipe for avocado. I don't really follow any recipe so adjust according to your taste. If you choose to add vanilla pudding and banana, you may decrease the amount of honey needed. Be creative and let me know if you find other variations for it! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 large Avocado
1 banana, optional
1/2 Cup Vanilla Pudding, optional
2 Tbsp Honey (more or less to taste)
1 1/2-2 Cups Milk or Soy milk
Ice cubes, optional

1. Put avocado, banana, pudding and milk in the blender and blend well.
2. Add honey through the funnel while blending or just add honey in the milkshake and pause a couple seconds.

Note: If you want to add honey in earlier and then all blend together, you might find some honey stuck on the blender. Mine does that so I choose to add honey later.

Avocado Toast

This is one of my favorite food. My mission President and his wife made some for me one time and I loved it so much. It's very healthy and easy to make. I eat it whenever I feel like to. Avocados contains good fat and lots of minerals and vitamins. (http://www.avocado.org/healthy-living/nutrition)

Ingredients:

1 Avocado
1 Tbsp Honey or more to taste
3-4 pieces of bread

1. Smash avocado with a spoon or fork in a small bowl or shallow plate.
2. Add honey and mix it well. Add more depending on your preference.
3. Toast the bread.
4. Spread the mashed avocado on the toast and enjoy!