Hello beautiful ladies and gents - check out my new blogventure at www.phoenixandbear.com

 

It's lovely - follow me there!!

Cast Iron Skillet Brownies

I got a cast iron skillet for my birthday recently, and I wanted to go ahead and start wearing it in! This is the first recipe
I've made out of it, and other than having some messy edges, it turned out great. The recipe I used can be found HERE, and I followed directions exactly.


My suggestion would be to keep the temp LOW in those first few steps. Like I said, I did have some of the crusts stick to the skillet, but that just means I can keep those all to myself while other people eat the inside. In regards to brownies, pizza, and cheesecake, I am happy with just the crust. : )

Enjoy!

Carrot cake....turned rogue

2 posts in the same week - can it be? I don't know what happened, but the creativity switch is currently flipped to "on". How exciting.

I wanted to make some carrot cake, not necessarily to celebrate all the Easter bunny related foods out there, but because it's delicious. Carrots on their own: mediocre. Carrots doused in sugar, baking magic, and cream cheese frosting: no words can describe.

However, I had a roadblock when I discovered I'm out of sugar! So, I have turned this into a "lighter" (much lighter, actually) version of the original carrot cake. I have replaced oil with applesauce, and sugar has been replaced with Splenda. In total, each BIG muffin is about 170 calories. They are actually quite dense and filling, not like a normal "cakey" muffin.
I had roasted some carrots earlier today, and used some of them instead of fresh. I think it just gives it a deeper flavor, but for simplicity sake, I will just write the recipe using fresh carrots, to avoid the hour of roasting.

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS (makes 6 BIG muffins):
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup applesauce
1 cup splenda baking sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup carrots - grated
powdered sugar for appearance

1. preheat to 350
2. In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg)
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the final ingredients until smooth
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry until just mixed (don't over mix....don't you dare)
5. Pour into 6 big cupcake tins, or 10-12 regular sized and bake for 20 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean

Artisan pizza with peppers and onions

Hello there -
I think I've found myself a new habit i'd like to work on: making artisan pizzas every week. I tried to figure out what "artisan" means in the context of pizza making, and I'm pretty sure it just means that there wasn't a "delivery charge" associated with it. So congratulations, if you have ever made a home-made pizza, you are a culinary artisan!
On a more practical note - this is a cheap (mine took less than $4 for the entire pizza), fun, and healthy way to have your favorite pie.
This particular recipe has SWEET notes from the caramelized onions and the roast red peppers. I added some Irish whiskey cheddar that I had left over to it, and that added a nice punch of flavor. But it's really up to you which cheese you want to stick with, just not American. ; )

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup luke warm water
1 package yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 1/2 cup bread flour
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 cup cheese (I used 1/2 cup mozarella, 1/2 cup irish whiskey cheddar)
2 onions - chopped and carmelized
1 red pepper
tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste

1. preheat oven to 450 (oh it's hot hot hot!)
2. in a large bowl, mix together your water, yeast and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until foamy on top.
3. Add in to your yeast mixture the flour, oil and salt. Knead with your hands until the flour is evenly distributed. Let sit 5 minutes.
4. In the mean time, caramelize your onions, chop your peppers, and shred your cheese.
5. After a 5 minute break, roll out your dough until all areas are about 1/2 inch thick. You can then pinch the perimeter of the dough to add a thickness to the crust.
6. Spread on the sauce, then toppings, then cheese
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes,or until the pizza has reached your desired amount of crunchy wonderful-ness.

White Chocolate Gingerbread Blondies

Oh hello Christmas, you snuck up on me this time around! Time for some festive foods. I adapted this recipe from Tracey, where you can find the recipe. The only change I made was that I didn't use cloves (only because I forgot to purchase some...) and I used 12 oz of white chocolate chips instead of 10 oz. Who doesn't like a little extra chocolate? Hmm?

Enjoy!

Independence day delights

It has been a whopping 3 months since the last post - gasp! No excuses, just a lack of creativity in my cooking. However, with today being a holiday I decided to go all out. This 4th of July's foods are brought to you by none other than my favorite Martha. Both of these recipes were taken from Martha's website, and (per usual) they didn't fail me!

First we have some barbecued baby back ribs. These were fall of the bone amazing. Enough said. You can find the recipe HERE

For dessert, Noah darling requested strawberry shortcake, but while perusing the interwebs, I discovered THIS fabulous recipe. I like strawberries better than raspberries, so I replaced the raspberry ingredients (ie fresh raspberries, jam) with it's straw counterparts. The fun part was making homemade whip cream! It was very easy, just whipping some heavy cream and a little sugar. The result was a much creamier, less sugary version of the store bought whip cream. For the pound cake, I just chose an original pound cake recipe out of my handy dandy BH&G Cookbook.

Overall this was a fabulous summery meal, celebrating Independence Day! What did you all eat today, anything good?

ENJOY

Summer Salad Duo

Oh, hello there 70 degrees and sunny! Warm weather means away with the soups and in with the salads. I've never been too fond of chicken salads, as I'm not a mayonnaise aficionado. So, here I've created a creamy, satisfying chicken salad for those relaxing summer lunches (hopefully you can have at least one of those in the next few months) without all the mayonnaise. I've paired it with a vinegar tomato and cucumber salad. I love the creaminess of the chicken salad and the punchy bite of the other. Both of these are light on fat, but heavy on satisfaction.

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

Mayonnaise-free Chicken Salad (makes 4 servings)
16 oz poached chicken breasts, cooled and diced
1/2 cut plain yogurt (you can use Greek if you're feeling adventurous)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 diced sweet onion
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp tobasco (gives it a punch!)
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

While cooking your chicken, mix together the remaining ingredients. When the chicken is cooled, dice and toss with the yogurt mixture.

Tomato and Cucumber Vinegar Salad
2 vine tomatoes
1 cucumber
1/4 cup salad vinegar (if you have other vinegars on hand, feel free to try it out)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tbsp lemon juice

Dice the tomatoes and cucumber. In a bowl, mix the remaining ingredients until the sugar and salt granules have disintegrated. Toss over cucumber and tomatoes and let marinate in the fridge for 1/2 hour.

Reese's Cup-cakes

So, I cheated. I used boxed cake. Do you judge me? It's ok, you'll get over it when you taste one of these. My one suggestion would be to use the no-sugar peanut butter for the frosting. I sadly didn't have any available, and the icing was a little too sweet for me, but I'll know for next time!

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
for the cake -
1 boxed mix (gasp!) of devils food cake
3 lg eggs
1 1/3 cup veg oil
1 cup water
1/4 cup peanut butter

1. Pre-heat to 350
2. Prepare ingredients as directed, per the boxed instructions, and add in the peanut butter. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean

for the fun stuff -

3/4 cup butter (1.5 sticks)
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 Reese's Cups, cut into fourths

Mix together the butter, sugar, and peanut butter until smooth. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and add the reeses cups on top as decorum. Eat and repeat.

Almond Butter Snickerdoodles

Where did the word snickerdoodle come from? I mean, was it a Mr. or Ms. Snickerdoodle, the famed creator of our beloved cinnamon treat? Was it from the town of Snickerdoodle? I researched a bit only to find that there is no definite answer....thriller! It looks like it's of German origin (much like my beloved dog, a Schnauzer), but past that, no one has a definite etymology. Does this not make it even more exciting? Perhaps.

Regardless, these cookies are a little bit of a twist on the classic recipe, with almond butter and some cream cheese being in the mix. I adapted my recipe from Handle the Heat blog. The only change I made was to use 2x the amount of almond butter and a little extra cinnamon. My almond butter was from raw, unsalted almonds, and for that, there was a little inkling of depth lacking. I think that if I used almond butter from dry roasted almonds (as is normally the case), it would have made it that much more uber-delicious (throwing in a little German there).

Enjoy!

Coq Au Vin

I just want to start off by saying: this recipe required me to butcher a chicken in the way that would have made the native American's blush. I mean, I was hacking away at that thing with no mercy....no mercy! The recipe required 2 chicken legs and 2 chicken breasts, so I just decided to get a whole chicken and have a go at it. After using the legs and breasts for this recipe, I cut off all the remaining parts, made some barbeque, and then used the bones and remaining chicken parts to make some broth. Waste not, want not! I'm almost embarassed by my show of violence towards the foul, but what's done is done! Moving on.

I got this recipe out of this cookbook - which is a good little treasure for "healthy" recipes that are still classic and satisfying. It's a fairly easy recipe, just a good little bit of prepping and about 2 hours worth of cooking. By the end, your kitchen will smell delightful! It's not the most visually appealing dish, but it's very flavorful, comforting, and satisfying.

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
2 skinless chicken legs (or full skin, go for it!)
2 skinless chicken breasts
2 slices bacon, diced
1 1/4 cup shallots or button onions (I used pearl onions)
6 carrots, sliced
1 1/4 cup dry red wine (I had a Cabernet)
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
sprinkling of S&P
sprinkle of thyme
bay leaf
sprinkle of parsley
1 1/4 cup button mushrooms
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

1. Put chicken, bacon, onions and carrots in a casserole dish

2. In a bowl, mix together the wine, broth, tomato paste, garlic and seasonings. Pour over the chicken/veg mix and cook @350 degrees for 1 hour

3. Add mushrooms, stir, and cook for an additional 30 minutes

4. Remove the chicken, place in a covered bowl.

5. Blend the cornstarch with 3 tbsp water and stir into the juices and vegetable. Bring to a boil, stir until thickened, and let simmer for 3 minutes.

6. Spoon the veggie sauce mixture over the chicken and serve

Banana and Sweet Potato Muffins

Let's be honest here, this is a lazy post. Here are the reasons:
1. These were made for a work "baking contest". (adorable idea, yet would seem to be a health hazard?) I could have done something that would have actually had a shot at winning (ie some delightfully piped and decorated cupcake), but instead I opted out of buying any additional items at the grocery and sticking with what I have.
2. I'm not even going to type out the recipe! Instead, I'll save yourself and myself the time by referring you to the creator and originator of this recipe HERE. The only thing I changed was the topping - I did a brown sugar topping instead of the toasted nuts. I like nuts, but not in baked items.
3. This recipe would be great for a lazy afternoon, sitting on the couch, enjoying the lack of...well...anything but this delicious, wonderful baked delight!
4. I'm in the middle of a 50 hour work week and I frankly don't want to put more effort into my baking as I have to. So there! : )

Enjoy!

French Bread

I was sad to see that a whole month has passed with no posts! Le sigh!
The reason for the lack of blogness is that we have moved out to the country! I know have a huge kitchen (and basically a larger scale of everything) to use. It's very exciting, but needless to say, I've been crunched for time. Here is a great simple bread recipe for us beginner bakers! I consulted my handy dandy Better Homes and Garden's cookbook for this recipe. I was in the mood for some kneading and to have my kitchen smell like fresh, yeasty goodness.

The recipe that I used (and did not divert from) can be found HERE.

Enjoy!

Brownies with Pumpkin Chocolate glaze

I was put in charge of Christmas dessert, which is great.....if I had gotten my ingredients the day before Christmas....when all of the stores are closed....even Walmart. With that being said, it was time to get inventive! I had ingredients for brownies and some leftover cream cheese frosting I was saving for a rainy day (or snowy, for that matter.) This was the end result! Honestly, not what I had hoped for, but it's fairly delicious, and extra delicious with some ice cream!

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS: (makes 12)

for the brownies
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt

for the frosting
1 cup cream cheese frosting
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

4 oz dark chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9x9 pan

2. In one bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and eggs.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa, and salt

4. 1/2 cup at a time, mix the dry ingredients with the wet. Mix until well incorporated and smooth. Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

5. For the frosting, cream together the cream cheese frosting, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in one bowl. In a separate bowl, melt the chocolate. Pour these mixtures over your COOLED brownies in whatever way your little heart desires. Serve with ice cream, or not--it's Christmas, eat what you want!

Pina Colada Cupcake

Let's get a little summer flavors in the middle of the Christmas season! I mean, I don't know about you, but cold weather and I don't mix well. These will be my little trick to make myself think it's warm....and that I'm on a beach....with a lot of sun.

I used a cake mix for this (gasp!) to save some time. I know, I know, naughty! But I'm generally never disappointed in the texture of a boxed cake mix. HOWEVER, I will never use pre-made icing. Yuck.

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS (makes 12 cupcakes)
for the cake...
1 yellow cake mix
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1 cup water
1 cup pineapple
for the frosting...
1 8oz package of cream cheese (room temp)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease or line 12 muffin tins. (I actually was able to make 6 standard sized cupcakes, and 6 jumbo sized cupcakes).

2. In one large bowl, mix together the cake mix, the oil, eggs, water, and pineapple. Mix with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes until smooth and the pineapple has been shredded.

3. Pour into muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes or until insides are baked through.

4. While they're baking, mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Mix until the icing can hold its shape.

5. Once your cupcakes are done, toast the coconut! On a baking sheet, spread the coconut out until it is a single layer. Place the coconut under the broiler for about 2 minutes or until brown/toasted. CAREFUL! Once it begins to brown, it only takes about 10 seconds until it's ready to be pulled out. Nobody likes burnt coconut! : )

6. Ice cupcakes, top with toasted coconut, and dream of the warm weather!

Vegetarian Egg White Frittata

This is your new power meal. Let me break down the stats for you:
Calories: 170
Fat: 2.8 grams
Protein: 27

I mean, this meal is not playing around. I wanted to have something that was filling and satisfying, without a lot of fat and low calories. This is truly filling and won't leave you hungry. The eggs give it a breakfast feel, but it's really a dish that can be eaten for lunch or dinner. If you need to have some carbs with it, stick to a whole grain toast or maybe a wheat tortilla. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS: (makes 1 serving)
6 eggs white
1 cup spinach
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/8 cup cheese (I used a mozzarella/asiago mix)
salsa (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a bowl, mix together the first three ingredients, until the egg whites are evenly distributed
3. Pour egg mixture into a baking dish, top with cheese and salt/pepper
4. Bake for 20 minutes, or until egg white are white throughout
5. Top with salsa

DIY: Almond Butter

I found out a little secret a few days ago...you don't have to have any spectacular tools or involved process to make nut butters. Considering I could easily survive off of peanut butter alone, this is good news! I generally don't buy almond butter at the store, because it's so much more expensive than PB. Almonds, however, have half the amount of saturated fat, more fiber, and the same amount of sugar as peanuts.

Here's the plan to make your own almond butter, for half the price!

In a food processor or blender, grind 2 cups DRY ROASTED almonds w/ about 1 tbsp of oil. I used olive oil, for health benefits, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Blend blend blend until smooth, then enjoy! Easy, no? Enjoy!

Martha's Old Fashion Apple Pie

Hi hello! It has been nearly 2 months since the last post (gasp!). I've been lacking in the creativity department, but fortunately Thanksgiving forced me to get back to the kitchen! I was asked to bring a dessert for thanksgiving, so I thought I would go with a nice, traditional favorite. Naturally I look to Martha Stewart for her recipe. I stuck to it almost exactly, but I switched out the cloves for nutmeg, and I ended up only needing 5 or six apples instead of the suggested 8. It's a really good idea to do half sweet apples and half tart. That way you get the best of both worlds!

I've only made pastry dough a few times, and if you've never made your own dough before, fear not! Just be patient. For a pie crust, always use COLD butter and don't skimp on cooling it. The cold butter cut into the flour is what gives pie crusts their flakiness. I try not to be flaky, but I surely do want my pies to be.

Enjoy (and happy Thanksgiving!)

RECIPE for Martha Stewart's Old Fashion Apple Pie

Choco-mel Pumpkin cookies

You know it's the right time of the year when there's two pumpkin entries in a row. I adapted this recipe from the fantastically awesome Coconut & Lime . I just switched it up a bit by adding caramelly chocolate and upping the pumpkin a bit. The result? A soft, low-fat niblet of fall goodness. That's right. (ps, they're super easy to make!)

Enjoy!


INGREDIENTS (makes 1 dozen cookies):
1 3.5 oz bar of Ghiradelli milk chocolate and caramel squares, chopped
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg

1. Whip together the pumpkin, vanilla and brown sugar. Add the egg and mix until fluffy.
2. Add flour, baking powder, salt and oatmeal. Mix until well incorporated.
3. Fold in Ghiradelli.
4. On a greased cookie sheet, "plop" dollops of cookie dough and bake for 12 minutes, or until cooked throughout.

Chocolate and Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

I know that macarons and whoopie pies have been all the rage in the baking world for the past few months, but I just haven't really gotten into them. I guess I never hopped on the sandwiched cookie trend train in the beginning, but here I am! I was supposed to make a dessert for a work picnic, and I wanted to find something fun. So, where do I look to find inspiration? Martha! And, of course, it didn't fail! I found this delightful little recipe that allowed me to make a fall-inspired, fun cookie...or pie...whoopie!

These little cuties are a mix between a cake and an cookie. The texture of the cookie is more like that of a cake, but the shape reminds you of a cookie. I'm pretty much in love with the pumpkin filling. It's a wonderful taste of fall, and really satisfying. I found the recipe HERE. The only thing I changed was that it only took 10 minutes to bake. For real! So fast!

Enjoy!

S is for Spinach

Oh my goodness, I am so excited about these two recipes. For real. I had a bag of spinach that I had neglected throughout the week and needed to use it asap. Spinach is, for me, one of those ingredients I could usually do without. I like spinach salads, but unless it's cooked with lots of other fatty goodness, I'm not a huge fan. I don't know how Popeye did it.

Anyway, these two recipes are amazing because they are super healthy, but super flavorful. They are both made in the blender/food processor. The pesto is so delicious, almost buttery. I didn't have any pine nuts, so I used raw almonds. You could also use this pesto over other foods, ie chicken, eggs, and whatever your little culinary heart desires.

The smoothie is a wonderful surprise. I honestly was a little hesitant to try it. I mean, spinach with a fruit smoothie? I had read about others making it, and I was curious. The result? It tasted like a frozen dark chocolate bar with blueberries. It's an amazing smoothie, because it has NO EXTRA SUGAR (que Hallelujah chorus!). It doesn't need it! You're not making a milkshake, you're making a healthy smoothie. The spinach is not noticeable at all. If I didn't know it was in there, I wouldn't have guessed it.

Enjoy!

RECIPE 1: Spinach pesto

INGREDIENTS:
-pasta (I just used whatever I had left in the box...)
-4 cups fresh spinach
-1/4 cup raw almonds (no pine nuts? gasp! I had to use what was in my pantry!)
-2 cloves garlic
-1/3 cup olive oil
-1/2 cup parmesan
-salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta as directed.

2. In a blender or food processor, blend together the rest of the ingredients until smooth and all of the almonds have been chopped.

3. Pour pesto over hot pasta, top with a dab of extra Parmesan and enjoy.

RECIPE 2: power "green" smoothie.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup almond milk (you can also use soy or cow milk if you would like)
2 cups fresh spinach
1 heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder

Blend all ingredients together until smooth.