Vacation!

I'm only partially ashamed to admit that I was a slacker this last week and didn't cook. At all. Our week consisted of spaghetti, tacos, and pizza (that other people made or we bought) and seeing grandparents and our other family on Spring Break. Don't hate me. =) To make up for it, I'm including our menu from the week before...and a chocolate cookie recipe that's AMAZING. It has a horribly large amount of chocolate in it which is probably why it's AMAZING! Seriously, it will make up for shirking my duties. I hope.

Monday-Tacos

Tuesday- Carne Asada, rice and pineapple

I make this by sprinkling this seasoning on thinly sliced steak and grilling it. We all love it!

Wednesday-Fried rice

Thursday-Hamburgers and hotdogs

Friday-Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy

Saturday-Lemon & Garlic Grilled Chicken

Okay, this was a new recipe that we really liked. Luke was even excited when I was making it for the second time yesterday. I added the aji, which is a pepper paste from Peru, but the original recipe didn't have it so I'm sure it's equally good without it!

Lemon & Garlic Grilled Chicken
Juice of 1 lemon, about 2 1/2 Tbsp.
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic, about 2 med. cloves
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper (I used a little less. I don't like pepper that much.)
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. aji
1 lb. chicken breasts (pounded to even thickness)
Combine all marinade ingredients. Place chicken in a ziplock bag and pour marinade over chicken. Seal bag and place in fridge overnight. Grill (or cook in frying pan).
Note: If you can cut your chicken into smaller, bite-sized pieces and then marinate it, you can get away with only letting it marinate for 5-6 hours instead of overnight. (But that would make it a pain to grill!)

AND NOW!!!!!
Thick and Chewy Double-Chocolate Cookies

**Resist the urge to bake the cookies longer than indicated; they may appear underbaked at first but will firm up as they cool.**
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
½ cup (1 ½ ounces) baking cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
16 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (or melt the equivalent of semi-sweet chocolate chips)
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
1 ½ cups (10 ½ ounces) packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (3 ½ ounces) granulated sugar
1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips
Whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave (50% power for 2 minutes, then stir and microwave in 20 second intervals until chocolate is melted - be careful not to overheat or chocolate will sieze).
In a small bowl, beat the eggs and vanilla lightly with a fork; set aside.Beat the butter at medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 seconds. Beat in the sugars until combined, about 45 seconds; the mixture will look granular. Reduce the speed to low and gradually beat in the egg mixture until incorporated, about 45 seconds. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined, about 40 seconds. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Finally add the chocolate chips. Do not overbeat. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the consistency is fudge-like, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners (this is pretty important - if the cookies are baked on a greased baking sheet only, they will probably stick). Roll the dough into 1 ½ inch balls and place them on the cookie sheets, spacing them about 1 ½ inches apart.Bake until the edges of the cookies have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10-11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets from top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the sheets about 5 minutes or until set and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.