This week's recipe is one of my personal favorites. I've made these cookies so many times and I have truly never had someone say they don't like them. I've made them for one of my classes in high school, for my family, and for friends. My brother even likes them and he didn't like anything other than pizza and spaghetti until like 2 years ago (basically, he's super picky). So, I'm sure you guys will like these if you make them! They're super easy and super yummy.

**Makes (about) 15 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup instant oats

¾ cup whole wheat flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 large egg white

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ cup creamy natural peanut butter (JIF Natural Peanut Butter is perfect)

½ cup honey

2 tablespoons chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg white and vanilla. Mix in the peanut butter into the vanilla/egg white mixture until smooth. Then, stir in the honey. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until fully mixed. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet, and flatten to the desired thickness and width. Bake at 325 F for 11-14 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before eating.

Hi everyone! After discussing ideas with a lot of you over retreat, many of you got excited whenever I mentioned sending out some healthy recipes - so, I decided to start doing that! Since I don't have enough room on the newsletter to include a full recipe, I will always include a link to the recipe, whether it will send you to this blog page or to a different page on the internet. I literally made this blog just to be able to share the recipes with you guys! So, the bright side of now having this blog is that if you ever need access to an old recipe I posted or whatever, most of them will be on this page and you can find them quickly, no matter how old of a recipe it is. 😌

Anyway, the recipe I'm sending out this week is Cajun Chicken Pasta! The first time I ever made it was with Kaleb, and his fam loved it. I made it for my fam about a week later and they loved it, too! So, I think its super yummy, not too hard to make and its just awesome because it also doesn't cost too much to make.

Ingredients you'll need:

·       ½ lb. (8 oz.) of linguini or penne (if its wheat pasta it's healthier, but normal is fine too!)

·       1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts

·       3 teaspoons olive oil, divided

·       1 teaspoon cajun seasoning

·       1 medium red bell pepper, diced

·       1 large garlic clove, minced

·       1 cup low-fat milk

·       ¼ cup water

·       1 tablespoon cornstarch

·       ½ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

·       1 medium Roma tomato, diced (I think I just used a can of tiny diced tomatoes bc I'm lazy)

• 1 large scallion, thinly sliced

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.     Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the salt, stirring to dissolve. Add the pasta and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain and reserve.

3.     While the pasta cooks, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

4.     Sprinkle the chicken breasts evenly on both sides with 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning. Carefully place the breasts in the cooking skillet. Cook for about 4-5 minutes per side, until the chicken is deeply browned and crisp.

5.     Transfer the chicken to the baking sheet and into the oven to finish cooking through. Remove the chicken when a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reaches 165 degrees F.

6.     Add the remaining teaspoon of olive oil to the skillet and stir in the bell peppers. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the peppers begin to soften, then stir in the garlic and cook for a minute more.

7.     Pour the milk into the skillet and bring to a simmer. Whisk the water and cornstarch together in a measuring cup, then pour into the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens.

8.     Turn burner off and stir in the Parmesan cheese until melted, then stir in the cooked pasta.

9.     Slice chicken into bite-size pieces and divide evenly between pasta dishes. Top each with handfuls of tomato and scallion.

Note: the pasta sauce will thicken as it cools. Reheat in a covered skillet over medium-low heat, stirring in 1-2 tablespoons water as needed to help the sauce retain its consistency.

Hopefully maybe some of you will try the recipe (if you don't, that's totally ok) and if you do, let me know if you like it! Also, if there is a specific type of recipe you'd like to see (desserts, pasta, Mexican, salads, etc.) please let me know! I want to give you guys whatever you'd like to see. Enjoy!! 😍

credit for the recipe: http://www.today.com/recipes/healthier-cajun-chicken-pasta-t66376