Flower And Sugar

Honey Cinnamon Banana Bread

2013-03-16T00:00:00-05:00

This had fantastic flavor and was a really awesome breakfast treat. My loaf ended up baking a bit short and took less time to bake as I made a mini-loaf and a more full sized loaf so I could share with my kid sister. The cinnamon and honey are terrific together. Next time I would bump up the cinnamon even more!

Recipe (From Hungry Brownie)

3 bananas [overripe is best]
5 Tbsp butter
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
1½ cups of flour

Preheat the oven to 350F. Melt the butter and mash the bananas into the butter. Add the sugar, honey, vanilla, egg, and salt. Mix in the baking powder and flour.

Transfer batter to a loaf pan lined with parchment paper. I made a mini loaf and used a smaller full sized loaf pan. My loaves were baked through in 30 minutes – bake until the toothpick test works. I allowed it to cool for about 20 minutes before removing from the pan. Allow the loaves to cool completely before slicing or packing up.

Tacozagna

2013-03-13T00:00:00-05:00

Tacozagna is a staple in our house. I love how the zucchini and carrots cook down and become a filling filler for the beef. The small amount of beef makes this dish feel hearty without overdoing it. Choose an enchilada sauce that you enjoy as it will be one of the predominant flavors. I prefer to make this ahead of time and re-heat it for dinner later in the week. This takes extra time in the oven but the filling and flavors meld together more which is a bonus.

Recipe (Adapted from Rachel Ray on foodnetwork.com)

Makes 3 servings

½ lb group beef
½ cup onion grated
salt and pepper
1 zuccini grated
1 cup grated carrot
¼ tsp onion powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp chili powder
½ cup chicken stock (could use water)
10 oz can enchilada sauce
½ cup black beans
2 burrito flour tortillas (8-10 inches)
1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
Shredded lettuce, sour cream, and chopped tomato for serving

Preheat your oven to 400F. Brown the ground beef and sauté the onion over medium heat with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Once the ground beef is cooked through add the shredded zucchini and shredded carrot and continue to cook another 5-7 minutes until the vegetables start to soften. Add the onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder. Once the spices are mixed through add ½ the chicken stock. Once mixed in, if not moist enough add the other ½ cup of chicken stock. Continue to cook over medium-low heat another 5-7 minutes until most of the liquid is evaporated.

Spray a 2L round baking dish with cooking spray and spread a few tablespoons of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of the dish, then mix the rest of the enchilada sauce into the meat mixture. Place a tortilla on the bottom of the dish. Layer ½ of the filling over the tortilla, then layer ½ of the cheese, then spread the beans over the cheese. Repeat the layers, except there is only 1 layer of black beans and it is topped with the shredded cheese.

Bake for 10-12 minutes and serve with sour cream, shredded lettuce, and diced tomato.

Note: This is a great make ahead casserole. I put together the casserole over the weekend when I have additional time and keep it covered in the fridge. It does take an additional 10-15 minutes to heat through when it is baked from the refrigerator – so plan accordingly.

Short cut supper: Egg in the hole

2013-03-08T00:00:00-06:00

This is an oldie but goodie in our house. I certainly didn’t come up with this idea – but I’m not sure where I saw it first. It’s a standard Saturday morning breakfast for us when I feel up to making something more involved than cereal – although it’s really not that much more complicated! We also make this on busy weeknights for a quick dinner with a side of fruit.

I really enjoy runny eggs and love to dip the extra piece of toasted bread into the egg.

Recipe

Makes 2 servings

4 pieces of bread
2-3 Tbsp butter or margarine
4 eggs
salt and pepper

Butter both sides of the bread. Either tear out a circle in the middle of each slice of bread or use a cute cookie cutter to make a design (fun for holidays!) Place the cut out slices of bread onto a non-stick griddle and turn onto medium heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes per side until the bread is toasted and the eggs are cooked to your liking. My favorite is when the whites are just cooked and the yolks are still runny.

Winter Inspired Salad

2013-03-06T00:00:00-06:00

So it’s March in Wisconsin – which means we just got a half-foot of snow yesterday… I guess that means this winter inspired salad is still appropriate to post! It uses vegetables that are easier to find during cold winter months. I adapted the salad for what we had on hand and for what Matt and I enjoy.

I knew I would like this salad – but I was surprised at how much I did!. I know I’ll like any salad you throw roasted butternut squash and apple on. The black beans and chicken make it feel like a meal but I really enjoyed using chives as an herb and the creaminess of the black beans. The spinach rounded out the salad and the toasted pita added a crunch (although I had half of mine with hummus instead…) The only thing I will change when I make this again is to use a sharp cheddar or crumbled parmesan instead of the feta – It just wasn’t my favorite in this salad.

Recipe (Adapted from Real Simple)

For 2 salads

3 Tbsp olive oil (divided)
1 cup chopped butternut squash
salt and pepper
1 pita
2 cups baby spinach
½ small radicchio head chopped
½ cup chopped gala apple
¼ cup drained and rinsed black beans
1 cooked chicken breast
3 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp chopped chives

Preheat oven to 450F. Toss the chopped butternut squash in ½-1 Tbsp olive oil with a pinch of salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 minutes until fork tender.

To make the pita croutons lower the oven temperature to 350F and chop up the pita. Dress with ½ Tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring at 3-5 minutes. Bakes until toasted and starting to turn golden brown. [Note: we didn’t use the whole pita for the 2 salads]

To make the dressing, combine 2 Tbsp olive oil, the red wine vinegar, and the chopped chives in a small mason jar with a pinch of salt and pepper. Shake the jar until the dressing is well combined. [Again, we didn’t use the all of the dressing for the 2 salads]

Mix the spinach and chopped radicchio. Top with chopped apple, roasted butternut squash, pita croutons, shredded or chopped chicken breast, black beans, feta cheese, and dress with the vinaigrette.

Behind the scenes

Here is a behind the scenes shot of how Matt photographed the salad. He started off by determining the framing of the photograph with respect to the wine glass and white background.

Then he took a test shot of the bowl to figure out the proper exposure.

When the salad was done we replaced the empty bowl, took a few quick shots of the salad, and then we quickly tore down the photography set and ate the salad :)

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

2013-03-03T00:00:00-06:00

Peanut butter and chocolate is a common combination in our kitchen. So it’s no surprise that when some fancy peanut butter cups were mailed to us, they ended up in some baked goods! When they arrived at Matt’s office, his co-workers were pretty excited about them so Matt told them they could have the top half of the box of chocolates. They thought they were being pretty clever when they would sneak the peanut butter cups from the bottom layer and replace them with the chocolate form the top layer…

Fortunately, what kind of peanut butter cup doesn’t matter for this treat, as long as you have a good amount of them! I think Matt’s office was also a bit surprised when the chocolate was sent back to work as brownies. When they had an office party a couple weeks later, they were still talking about them! Although I’m not surprised, I used a super chewy brownie recipe my go to recipe and topped it with an additional peanut butter layer then sprinkled flaked salt on top. (I’m kinda into salted treats right now.) These were amazing, while I tend not to repeat baked goods, these might have to make a comeback!

Recipe (Adapted from Cooking in Everyday English by Todd English)

1 cup butter
1 oz semisweet chocolate chips
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
24 peanut butter cups roughly chopped
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2-3 Tbsp powdered sugar
A pinch of two of sea salt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Melt the butter and chocolate chips together in a saucepan over low heat. Allow melted mixture to cool.

Beat the eggs with a hand or stand mixer on medium speed. Once thickened slowly beat in the sugar. On low speed, add in the flour, cocoa powder, salt and vanilla. Try to scrape down the sides as you go. Next add the butter and chocolate mix. Once the batter is combined, fold in the chopped peanut butter cups. Pour batter into a prepared 9x13 baking pan.

In a separate bowl mix together the peanut butter and powdered sugar. (I found this easier when the peanut butter was just slightly softened in the microwave for 10 seconds.) Drop dollops of the peanut butter mix on top of the brownie batter. Use a butter knife to marble the top of the brownies. If using, sprinkle the sea salt on top of the batter.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the brownies to cool then cut the brownies and enjoy!

Adventures in Smoothies: Mango Pineapple Coconut

2013-02-28T00:00:00-06:00

Life in our household has been crazy lately! I feel like we’ve been running from one thing to the next and I’m constantly sprinting to keep up with my deadlines. While I enjoy being busy and productive, I need to work on only saying yes to opportunities that are meaningful or that I enjoy. Matt was in Canada for work earlier this week, so any healthy eating I usually try to maintain went right out the window. We need a bit of a recalibration to increase our healthy eating – so I feel it’s a good thing we stocked up on making our frozen smoothies a few weekends ago!

I loved this smoothie! I used to think I didn’t like mango, but I love the tropical feel the mango, pineapple, and coconut milk give the smoothie. The combo of mango and coconut milk also made the smoothie super creamy. Think tropical milk shake more so than healthy smoothie. Add a handful of spinach to feel healthy and you are set for a busy morning and a (hopefully) productive day!

Recipe

1 banana
1 handful of spinach
1 cup light coconut milk
6 oz frozen mango
6 oz frozen pineapple

Makes 2-3

Chive Egg Sandwich

2013-02-23T00:00:00-06:00

I’m a HUGE fan of warm breakfasts. Nowadays, unless I’m having Smoothies, I’m fixing up something warm. But – I’m also not much of a morning person. So lately I’ve been trying out new ways to get a warm breakfast put together quickly. This idea was a bit too involved for a workday, but I think it will probably turn into a repeat offender for a weekend breakfast.

I love cream cheese scrambled eggs. They give the eggs a creamy consistency and make them just a bit tangy. I also loved the addition of chives – but I’ve also done this with basil and there are a handful of other herbs this would work well with. I liked adding the spinach before melting the cheese, it wilted the spinach with I preferred for this sandwich. Enjoy!

Recipe

Makes 2

4 eggs
2 Tbsp milk (I used skim)
A pinch of salt and pepper
1 small handful chives chopped
2-3 Tbsp room temperature cream cheese
2 Bagel thins (or bread vehicle of your choice)
2 oz cheese (I used Monterey Jack – it’s a good melting cheese)
1 handful spinach

Whisk the eggs, milk, and salt and pepper together. Cook over low, stirring often, in a smallish non-stick pan. When the eggs are almost set mix in the cream cheese and chopped chives – at this time toast up your bagel thins. Spread the cooked scrambled eggs over the toasted bagel thins and top with the cheese and spinach.

If desired you can bake at 350 for a couple minutes to melt the cheese and wilt the spinach a bit – but this isn’t necessary.

French Onion Soup With Dunking Croutons

2013-02-19T00:00:00-06:00

Can you believe making this soup was my idea? I am an adamant non-liker of onions. I used to pick them out of everything! (Even casseroles – that was annoying) I’ve slowly been coming around to onions. I will eat them when cooked; it’s more of a texture thing than anything for me. I actually really really like the sweet broth this French onion soup makes. I only ate about half the onions in the soup – but I didn’t let a drop of that broth go to waste!

I’ve made French onion soup before – but this recipe really lets the onions caramelize before adding the broth which makes the soup nice and sweet. It takes a while to caramelize – but it’s worth it! I’ve also found that I have another texture problem when it comes to those croutons. I don’t like toasting them on top of the soup like you’re supposed to. It soaks up all of my broth!! So I’ve turned to making swiss cheese toasties on the side for dipping – my favorite.

Recipe (Adapted from Melissa on Food Network)

Makes 4 servings

4 large yellow onions
1-2 Tbsp butter
salt and black pepper
1 Tbsp flour
1 small bunch fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups beef stock (I used 1 can)
4 cups chicken stock (I used 1 box)
4 slices swiss cheese (4 oz)
1 French bread loaf cut into 8 slices

Thinly slice the onion into half moon shapes (about ¼ in thick). In a Dutch oven or soup pot with a lid over medium-low heat, add the butter. Once melted add the onions with a pinch of salt and pepper and cover the pot and cook until caramelized. This will take a while – 1 to 1 ½ hours. Once caramelized to your liking stir in the flour and cook a couple minutes. Add beef and chicken stocks, lemon juice, bay leaf, and thyme bundle. Let cook for at least 10 minutes while you make your toasties. Remove the herbs from the soup before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

While the soup is finishing up toast your bread on both sides for a few minutes at 400F. During the last 2-3 minutes melt ½ piece of swiss cheese on each piece of bread. Serve your swiss cheese toasties to dip in your soup.

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

2013-02-17T00:00:00-06:00

A good friend of mine just had a baby! So it’s probably no surprise that I baked something to go with the meals I took over. They have a family member with a gluten allergy so I wanted to send something gluten free so everyone could have a treat to enjoy. I chose this cookie as it was just flourless and I didn’t need to go purchase special gluten free flours. I think they had a nice texture and I loved the mix-ins. They tasted like a super chocolaty brownie cookie!

A note: I started with three egg whites, as the recipe suggested, but my batter didn’t come together and was crumbly with no way the mix ins were going to be incorporated. Possibly my eggs were on the smaller side? I did use large eggs as suggested. I went ahead and added an extra egg white, bringing the total up to four. This made a nice sticky batter that I went with. That may be why I needed to bake mine on the longer side, but the ones on the longer side had a nicer, more cooked through, texture. I would start with the 8 minutes and check often until they look cooked through and are the same lighter color over the whole cookie.

Recipe (Adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Appx 2 dozen cookies

2 ¼ cups powdered sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 cup cocoa powder
4 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup mini chocolate chips
½ cup chopped walnuts

**1 tsp espresso powder, is optional and suggested – but mine had a note that it was processed in a facility with gluten – so I left it out when I made these.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Stir together all of the ingredients, except the extra egg, chocolate chips and walnuts. Mix until smooth and everything is incorporated. If needed, mix in the fourth egg white. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts, if desired.

Drop the sticky batter onto the prepared baking sheets. I used a Tbsp sized cookie scoop. Make sure there is adequate space between the cookies on the sheet. I only baked 8 cookies per sheet. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. They will spread, become somewhat shiny, develop slightly crackly tops, and the color should be uniformly a lighter color. Remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool on the pan.

Bacon Blondies

2013-02-14T00:00:00-06:00

Happy Valentine’s Day! Bacon Blondies are the way to my husband’s heart!

Matt is an avid bacon lover so I felt these blondies were the perfect treat to share on Valentine’s Day. Matt has no less than three t-shirts professing his love of bacon and his favorite topic of conversation with my brother for a few months was how they could engineer a “bacon bowl”. He also has a bacon cookbook and other bacon novelties.

Many of Matt’s co-workers have a similar crush on bacon – so I sent most of these to work with him. I’m personally not a huge fan of the texture of meat baked into my treats – but to each there own :)

See The Baking Robot for the recipe if you have a loved one as crazy about bacon as Matt!

Short Cut Supper: Barbequed Pork Pizza

2013-02-11T00:00:00-06:00

Oh leftovers… how to eat you up but avoid boredom? Actually, I’m kinda ok eating the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day for a month. Weird – I know. But Matt’s not as ok with that as I am. We always have this barbequed pork in the freezer for busy weeks – and after we’ve used it in sliders, salad, quesadillas, and even on baked potatoes we needed to find something new to make with it. This isn’t so much a recipe as an idea – but it’s a tasty idea!

I had a pita in the freezer and I threw it in the oven at 375F to defrost while I got out the pork and chopped up some cheese. Once the pita was defrosted and a bit toasted, I topped it with some extra barbeque sauce, the leftover pork, and the cheese. I baked it in the oven for 5-10 minutes until the pork was warmed through and the cheese was melty.

Smoothie Adventures: Peanut Butter Banana

2013-02-09T00:00:00-06:00

We are three weeks into the spring semester and it has been CRAZY! Teaching statistics is such a different ballgame from anything else I’ve tried. While I am loving it – it has been very time consuming and having these frozen smoothies has been a HUGE help! Matt and I make a bunch over the weekend, we freeze them, and in the evening I pick out my flavor and pop it in the fridge and it’s ready to go the next morning!

While most of the smoothie flavors we’ve been trying have been green smoothies, or at least fruit based, Matt and I are huge peanut butter fans – so it’s probably no surprise that a peanut butter smoothie has shown up! It’s a bit of a treat that I saved for a Friday morning. This smoothie was wonderful when we had a taste the day we made them, it’s super smooth and creamy. But a word of warning, it was a bit icy after it had been frozen. Next time we make it we plan to increase the liquid ingredients and we might try frozen bananas. I think it’s just a matter of time before I decide to try a chocolate smoothie :)

Recipe

2 bananas
½ cup vanilla yogurt
¼ cup peanut butter
½ cup milk
1 cup ice

Makes 2-3 smoothies

Blend all ingredients until smooth to your desired consistency. Pour about 8-10 oz into 12 oz Kerr jars and freeze. Refrigerate the smoothie the night prior or pull out of the freezer a few hours before you are ready to eat and shake up or mix to regain smoothie consistency.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

2013-02-06T00:00:00-06:00

We had a couple over for dinner that appreciated pumpkin as much as I do – so I knew this had to be on the menu. As it was only the four of us, I only made a half batch of these bars. I loved the combination of pumpkin and chocolate, and I loved the contrast of the chocolate and cheesecake. It made for a pretty dessert to share with friends!

Recipe (Found at Bake at 350)

For the cheesecake:

8 oz room temperature cream cheese
1/4 cup pumpkin
6 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
4 Tbsp sour cream
1 eggs

For the brownies:

6 Tbsp butter
1 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325F. Line an 8x8 pan with tin foil (easier to remove the bars from the pan) and spray with cooking spray.

Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until no lumps remain. Add in the pumpkin, sugar, vanilla and spice and continue to beat until smooth. Add in the sour cream. Lightly beat the egg then mix it in until well combined. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the sugar and stir over low heat until combined and hot, not bubbly (mine did bubble a bit and it turned out fine). Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs until smooth. Stir in the flour.

Transfer about 3/4 of the brownie mixture into the pan and spread to cover the bottom. Pour the cheesecake batter over the brownie layer and spread evenly. Drop dollops of the brownie batter on top of the cheesecake layer. Use a butter knife to swirl the brownie into the cheesecake. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips.

Bake for 35 minutes or until the cheesecake layer is set. Let cool completely on a wire rack then store in the refrigerator.

Salted Caramel Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies

2013-02-03T00:00:00-06:00

Ever since I made these cookies I’ve really been into salted cookies. OMG – so good! I was excited when I came across this recipe. The addition of the cornstarch made the texture of these cookies super chewy – and I was not disappointed! I chose this recipe as it called for caramels to be added to the cookies and I received a timely baking package from my mother in law in the mail that included these chocolate caramels. The caramel isn’t as distinct in these pictures as the original recipe, but the flavor is still spot on!

I took these cookies into work for the staff kick-off meeting of the class I am an instructor for this semester. We have resident TAs and they put in pretty long hours. I appreciate how they carve out time for this class – and as I’ve shown over and over on this blog – I bake my thank yous!

Recipe (From Sally’s Baking Addiction)

Appx 3 dozen cookies

3/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or peacans)
16 wrapped caramels, cut smaller pieces
sea salt

Wait on preheating the oven – these need to be chilled first.

I mixed these up by hand. Cream the softened butter and sugars together. Then mix in the vanilla and egg. Next, stir in the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Lastly mix in the chocolate chips, walnuts, and chopped caramel. Cover dough and move to the refrigerator – chill for at least 30 minutes, I chilled it overnight.

When ready to bake these, preheat your oven to 350F. Line some baking sheets with parchment paper and scoop the dough onto the sheet pan. I used my cookie scooper – or drop 1 Tbsp sized balls of dough. Squish down the dough balls to flatten them a bit and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for 8-10 minutes - do not over bake – they wont have the same texture! Cool for a few minutes on the pan to set before moving them to a cooling rack.

Adventures in Smoothies: Cherry Smoothie on Instagram

2013-01-29T00:00:00-06:00

And we continue on our smoothie adventure. See our earlier post on how we are putting together make ahead smoothies and freezing them to eat for breakfast throughout the week. We made this smoothie one weekend where we didn’t think to break out the camera (those who know Matt know how rare that is!) so you get the Instagram version taken by yours truly! While this one is a green smoothie with a good handful of spinach added, the dark red of the cherry covers up the color. This one might be a bit more palatable for anyone hesitant to jump on the green smoothie bandwagon,

I actually set up my Instagram account for a personal project I wanted to take on this year. I call it my Thankful For project or TF. Each day I try to take a picture and document something that I’m thankful for. I’m a bit of a grumpy person so I’m hoping this might help me to put things in a better perspective. So far I think I’ve done a good job of thinking of something every day and I’ve gotten a few good pictures out of it! (And a lot of just ok pictures ☺)

Recipe

1 handful spinach
1 small carton of vanilla yogurt
1 cup orange juice
1 banana
8 oz frozen cherries

Makes approximately 2 smoothies

Marble Pound Cake

2013-01-27T00:00:00-06:00

I recently applied to go back to graduate school (and found out recently that I was accepted!) and few of my mentors wrote letters of recommendations for me. I am always very appreciative of anyone who carves out some time to write nice thing about me and I wanted to share a token of that appreciation. For me, that means baking. I came across this marbled cake on one of the blogs I follow and immediately knew that mini versions of it would be the perfect thank you baked good.

The flavor of this cake was spot on! It has a strong butter and vanilla flavor with just a hint of nutmeg. The cake is a bit on the dense and dryer side for a cake, but typical for a pound cake. This cake is relatively easy to put together but still impressive. If you need a treat, or a thank you gift, you should give it a try!

Recipe (From Hungry Girl Por Vida)

2 cups and 2 Tbsp, all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
A pinch of grated nutmeg
2 sticks (1 cup) room temperature butter
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
4 oz melted and cooled chocolate

Preheat oven to 325F. I used cooking spray on 4 mini loaf pans and lined the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

I would highly suggest a stand mixer for this recipe if possible, but a hand mixer would probably also work. Beat the butter for about 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat another couple minutes. Scrape the bowl as needed throughout the batter making process. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until incorporated before the next addition then mix in the vanilla. My batter looked curdled but came together in the end.

Mix in the flour mix and milk alternating, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Remove 1/2 of the batter in a separate bowl and mix in the melted chocolate. You should have half chocolate batter and half vanilla batter

Drop spoonfuls of batter, alternating into the loaf pans until the pan is about half full. The batter should be roughly equally divided between the 4 pans and will be 1/2 -2/3 the way full. Run a butter knife through the batter, making a zig-zag pattern, from one end of the pan to the other. Do this only once to marble, otherwise you will just mix the batters together.

Bake 35-40 minutes until the toothpick test works. Around 35 minutes I noticed my sides were golden brown but it wasn’t quite baked through per the toothpick test so I covered the loaves loosely with tin foil while the baking finished.

When they are done baking allow them to cool for 10 or so minutes before removing from the pan and allowing to cool completely. Then wrap the loaves. They can be kept at room temperature for several days.

Barbequed baked potatoes

2013-01-26T00:00:00-06:00

I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge fan of making a large batch of pulled pork or a pot roast and freezing a few servings of it for later for when Matt and I are busy. Well, being the week that the semester started I’m busy putting together lectures and homework, which qualifies this as one of those busy weeks to pull out a tub of pulled pork.

The usual quick meals we make with the pulled pork include slider sandwiches, tex mex salad, and quesadillas, so this time I wanted to mix it up and made a barbequed baked potatoes. I know I saw this on-line somewhere, but I have no idea where and this recipe is really just us throwing together what we had on hand.

It’s a great way to incorporate the pork onto a creamy potato base and served with a modest amount of pulled pork and cooked vegetables or a salad, it can be a somewhat well rounded meal!

If you are taking the time to bake the potatoes, you might as well throw in a few extra, I have another stuffed baked potato to share with you soon!

Recipe

For 2 servings

2-3 russet potatoes washed and dried (# depends on size)
½-2/3 cup barbequed pulled pork
2-3 tsp extra barbeque sauce of your choice
1 oz cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 425F. Pierce the potato a few times on all sides and wrap them in tinfoil. Bake the potatoes for 55-65 minutes until fork tender.

When the potatoes are almost done heat up the pork a bit to take the chill off. Slice the potatoes down the length and fluff the potato with a fork. Split the pork between the potatoes and top with cheese. Bake for about 5-7 minutes to warm through and melt the cheese. Top with a bit of extra barbeque sauce if desired.

Asian Chicken Chopped Salad

2013-01-21T19:44:00-06:00

Matt and I aren’t usually too big into New Year’s resolutions, but this year we set a couple goals for ourselves. We joined a gym and we’re trying to go 2-3 times per week and we’re trying to have a nice salad for a meal two times a week to help meet our vegetable quotas. (Although the smoothies also help. This was one of our attempts at trying out new flavor profiles for salads.

After our Bahn Mi Sandwiches we found ourselves with some leftover filling but no rolls. It left us with the perfect ingredients for an Asian chopped salad for lunch the next day! It was a great way to use up the pickled carrots and some other vegetables we had in the crisper. The chicken gave us some protein to keep us full and the cashews gave it some crunch and interest.

I took a little help from the store with the dressing, we used a nice one we found at the grocery store for this simple quick lunch. If you want to change up your salads – this might be one to try!

Recipe

For 2 large salads

4 cups iceberg lecture (we used up some mixes)
appx ¼ cup pickled carrots
1 chicken cooked chicken breast cubed
1/3 cucumber, seeds removed, chopped
2 Tbsp cashews
3 Tbsp ginger salad dressing (We used this one)
A few tortilla chips for crunch
A few mandarin orange slices for garnish

Place the salad, cashews, chicken, pickled carrots, and cucumber on a large cutting board and chop with a large chef knife. Add in appx 2 Tbsp dressing and mix, add another Tbsp or 2 of dressing until it suits your taste. Sprinkle with a few tortilla chips for crunch and place mandarin orange slices on the side for garnish if desired.

Adventures in Smoothies: Pineapple

2013-01-17T20:36:00-06:00

Matt and I are still going strong on our smoothie kick! See our earlier post on how we are putting together make ahead smoothies and freezing them to eat for breakfast throughout the week. I’ve decided to make these smoothie posts a bit of a series – it will help keep us trying out new flavors and hopefully generate some ideas for others to try as well.

This one is a green pineapple smoothie. Again, you can’t taste the spinach, but I feel healthier knowing it is in my breakfast. I know green smoothies turn some people off. I promise we have some recipes coming up for smoothies that don’t involve any vegetables!

Green Pineapple Smoothie Recipe

1 handful spinach
½ cup vanilla yogurt
1 cup orange juice
1 banana
2-3 cups frozen pineapple

Makes aproximately three 10 oz smoothies

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies

2013-01-15T20:16:00-06:00

I actually made these cookies for my Christmas plate this year, but I think these could be made anytime during the year. I wanted a bit of a project cookie and as I think I’ve mentioned before, Matt likes peanut butter and chocolate treats! So it’s no surprise these made it onto the cookie plate.

These were fun to put together. It was the first time I’ve made a filled pinwheel cookie. As this one came out of a relatively new baking book Home Baked Comfort – I opted not to share the recipe but thought the pictures were still nice and wanted to share them!

FYI: The photos and recipes in the Home Baked Comfort book are amazing and feature a lot of popular bakers and bloggers. I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a new baking book. I received it as a holiday gift this year.