send me to the milky way cookies

I made these this weekend and they went pretty quickly. They are great if you have leftover Halloween candy, or if you are like me, and it is impossible to keep candy in the home for more than a day, go buy some extra.

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

35 mini milky way and 3 musketeer candy bars, coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a stand or electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined, scraping edges with a spatula. In a separate large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add wet ingredients along with the chopped candy bars.

2. With a medium cookie scoop, scoop onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until cooked to your preference. Let cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to cooking rack.

Apple Turnovers

I'm going through a green apple phase, and this seems appropriate for the holidays....

INGREDIENTS

Vegetable oil cooking spray

2 medium Granny Smith apples, cored and thinly sliced

3 tbsp apple juice concentrate

2 tsp whole-wheat flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon (plus extra for sprinkling)

4 sheets phyllo dough, thawed

1 tbsp confectioners' sugar (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Toss apples, apple juice concentrate, whole-wheat flour and cinnamon in a bowl. Stack 2 phyllo sheets at a time and cut them in half, lengthwise. Place 3/4 cup of apple mixture across the end of one half. Roll up and place on cookie sheet. Repeat until you've used up all the apples. Brush top of each roll with juice from apple mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake until browned, 15-20 minutes. Let cool. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Cut each roll in half.

Serves 8

This is surprisingly low-calorie (50 calories per turnover) and seems pretty healthy!

Veggie Cassoulet

I've been looking for more vegetarian meals, and this one looked good - also great for fall.

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 zucchini, chopped

2 celery stalks, sliced

1 onion, chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, drained

3 cups drained cannellini beans, liquid reserved

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 dried bay leaves

4 slices crusty whole-wheat toast 

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook zucchini, celery, onion, salt and pepper until soft, about 8 minutes. Mix garlic and cook, stirring, another minute. Combine veggies, tomatoes, beans, 1/4 cup of the bean liquid, thyme and bay leaves in a 2 quart baking dish. Bake until golden, about 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves and serve warm with toast on the side.

Serves 4, and pretty healthy:

382 calories per serving

7.8 g fat

66 g carbs

15.5 g fiber

19.6 g protein

**I wasn't feeling great last night, and Cort made this for me - it's my new favorite dish! Delicious!!!