Can chicken noodle soup cure a cold?

Waking up for class today was an absolute nightmare. My head hurt, my throat hurt, my nose was stuffy, and I was achy. Class only resumed last week so I do NOT want to already be missing class!! I hate being sick so on my way home from school I Googled the best things to eat while having a cold. I know drinking orange juice to consume Vitamin C, getting lots of rest, and eating chicken noodle soup are essential. It became my mission to find out if chicken noodle soup actually helps cure the common cold. It turns out that the combination of vegetables, broth, and chicken may contribute to the movement of neutrophils, a certain kind of white blood cells! One theory states that the steam coming from the broth is what helps because it helps clear the sinuses. Another says that the hot broth helps move the mucus.

After learning all this I decided to make a stop by Publix. I checked out with cough drops, 2 cans of chicken noodle soup, and a box of saltines. I'm sure the cashier knew exactly how I was feeling. Next time you're feeling a cold coming on be sure to stock up on some chicken noodle, it is starting to sound like more than an old wives tale!

Healthy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cutie Cookies

My dear pal Alana is famous for her healthy cookies. She makes different kinds all the time and they are amazing!! I always beg her to bring me some because I eat a handful and don't feel bad about it. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but they're just too delicious! Her latest concoction are these cutie cookies. Made with apple sauce and molasses instead of sugar, and whole wheat and oat meal flour instead of all-purpose, these cuties are an indulgence that won't make you feel guilty!

Here's what you need:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat meal flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup peanut butter

Here's what you do:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Combine wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ones.
3. Cook for 7 minutes or until they look golden brown.
4. These cookies have M&Ms baked on top but anything would taste delicious on these!

Chicken & Broccoli Pasta

I have a fantastic roommate that makes delicious dinners, so delicious I want share them with everybody! Her latest creation doesn't have a single difficult part about it. It is angel hair pasta with chicken, broccoli, parmesan, and olive oil. Pretty simple, right?

She pan-fried the chicken in some olive oil and cooked the angel hair pasta and frozen broccoli according to the directions.

After the pasta was cooked and drained, she added additional olive oil and then stirred in some shredded parmesan.

Once the chicken and broccoli were ready, she stirred those in too. 

Sometimes the easiest things are the best things. And sometimes, the easiest recipes aren't the ones that initially come to mind. Each ingredient was eye-balled, but I would recommend being conservative with the olive oil and load on the chicken and broccoli! 

Dark Chocolate & Marshmallow Crescents

Yes, another crescent recipe, I just can't get enough of them!!! I've made meals, desserts, and snacks from these things. Seriously, it is the easiest thing and never fails to satisfy my cravings!

For my latest crescent creation I combined dark chocolate chips and marshmallows with the crescent dough. I placed the chocolate chips and a few mini marshmallows onto one end of the dough and rolled it up like a typical crescent. With the oven set to 375 degrees fahrenheit, I baked the rolls for around 10-12 minutes. SO yummy!!!

I ate these for both dessert and breakfast!! Do you have any creative crescent roll recipes?

Double Chocolate Chip Waffle [with peanutbutter]

Recently I've been looking for a way to make my typical breakfast foods even better. I came up with a great idea the other morning! I used frozen chocolate chip waffles, dark chocolate chips, and peanut butter. I woke up early to go on a run and when I got back to my apartment, I had come up with this idea. Yes, it wasn't the most healthy breakfast, but it was absolutely delicious. It was so great and I was full the entire morning!

Here's what you do:

1. Defrost two waffles.

2. Sprinkle a handful of chocolate chips onto the waffles.

3. Stack the waffles and spread peanut butter on top. TADA!!! Amazing breakfast time!

Do you have any colorful breakfast creations??

Pizza Crescent Rolls

My latest obsession is seeing what all I can make from a package of crescent rolls. Turns out, quite a lot of delicious creations come from that small roll of dough. My newest concoction consists of reduced fat crescent rolls, reduced fat parmesan string cheese, and turkey pepperonis.

Here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out the crescent rolls and place 6-7 pepperonis onto the dough. Next, cut the string cheese into halves and place a half on each roll.

2. Roll up the crescents and bake for 8-12 minutes, until golden brown.

Nutrition Facts: serving size 1 crescent

154 calories

7.6 grams of fat

12.5 grams of carbohydrates

Another super easy recipe and with each ingredient being reduced in fat, the nutrition facts aren't too shabby!! Side note: I ate mine with hummus and it was great! 

Spinach Artichoke Pasta

Being a Friday night, I knew I needed to make myself something good to eat after a long week of class. My sister and I found this recipe on Pinterest (as usual) and decided to try it out. It is super easy and barely cost us anything!

Here's what you need:
12 oz bow-tie pasta
1 tsp butter
8 oz fat free cream cheese
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
10 oz shredded spinach
14 oz artichoke hearts (cut in halves)
1/2 cup shredded parmesan

Here's what you do:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Melt butter in sauce pan. Once the butter is melted, add the cream cheese and stir until melted.
2. Slowly stir in the milk, then the sour cream, lemon juice, salt and pepper.
3. Lastly, stir in the artichokes, spinach, and parmesan cheese.

4. Drain the pasta and add to spinach-artichoke mix. Toss the two until thoroughly mixed.
5. Serve with additional parmesan and lemon juice, as desired.

The pasta was full of flavor and definitely hit the spot! It would definitely taste good with some baked chicken too. If you like spinach-artichoke dip, be sure to try this out! Happy Friday!!