the baked life

making a change

2012-07-31T08:57:00.001-07:00

Over the past few weeks, I've decided I needed to take this blog to another level.

I've loved posting on blogger, but this blog is moving to wordpress.

I'm not going anywhere, same love you are getting here, just on a new domain.

www.thebakedlifeblog.com

All of my previous posts have been transferred over, but you can still find them here.

See you on the new site.

It's purdy :).

strawberry jam

2012-07-26T10:05:00.000-07:00

Time is flying by too quickly.

I made this jam over a month ago.

I have since made more raspberry jam.

My sister in law posted a photo yesterday of her wedding invite. From 3 years ago. It felt like yesterday.

The husband and I at their wedding.

Also, I blinked then this happened.

Can't believe this was 5 years ago.

I still think I look like this.

But thankfully I don't.

Moral of the story, get making strawberry jam before you run out of time. Time goes by faster than you think.

Strawberry jam
[ from Intimate weddings ]

Makes approx. 10 250ml jars. I reduced the amount of sugar from 6 cups to 5 because I don't like an overly sweet jam. The jam still set quite nicely and you taste more of the strawberry flavour, but feel free to use all 6 cups if you so please.

13 cups strawberries, cleaned and hulled ( about 4.5 pounds)
5 cups of sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

Place the strawberries in a large pot over medium-low heat. Mash the berries with a potato masher while bringing them up to a simmer. You can mash the berries to whatever consistency you like, I prefer a smoother jam, so I mashed quite a bit. The berries will also break down during the cooking process. Once the fruit is simmering, stir in the sugar and the lemon juice. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil. The berries will have to boil for 30 minutes, stirring frequently and skipping the hot pink foam off as you go. The jam will be ready once a cold spoon dipped into the mixture will hold the jam. It's not ready if the jam runs off the spoon like syrup.

Once finished, remove pot from heat and fill prepared jars. Process in boiling water for 15 minutes. Let jars rest for at least 24 hours before using. Store in a cool, dark place for up to a year.

Don't know the full process, start to finish for canning? Here's a link from the pro's at Bernardin.

simple potato salad

2012-07-24T16:42:00.001-07:00

While my mom and I were out last week, we were reminiscing about a comment that was made about a year ago.

The comment was something along the lines of my mom not thinking about what words were coming-out of her mouth.

Like when she referred to a beautiful sunset by saying "the moon sure looks pretty."

Ummmmm.....

The comment we were laughing about was when we were out one evening and my mom ordered a wine spritzer. Judge all you want, but apparently they making a comeback. Usually when you get served a white wine spritzer, you get a glass with ice and wine, with a small carafe of club soda to add to it. My mom gets her drink, pours in her club soda and adds a lime, takes a sip. She makes a face. Like a pucker face.

"Whew, that's strong. I think it's a double."

Wait, what?

"No mom, I think you just need to add more club soda. I'm pretty certain there's no such thing as a double wine spritzer. Pretty sure that's just a full glass of wine."

"Oh." And the she laughs.

So while you are enjoying this simple potato salad on a warm summers eve, try having a wine spritzer, a double if you please. Which is just basically ice and wine.

Simple potato salad
[ slightly adapted from the Kitchn ]

2 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and cubed into 2-inch chunks
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/4 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green onions
salt & pepper to taste
finely chopped chives for garnish

In a large pot, add the potatoes and cover with cold water. Place pot on stove top and bring to a boil. Boil the potatoes for 20 - 30 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain potatoes and add back to pot. Add to the pot mayonnaise, dry mustard, yellow mustard, celery, and green onion. Mash slightly with a potato masher, leaving quite a lot of chunks. If you like a smoother potato salad, mash more. Continue mixing by folding the ingredients with a rubber spatula. Season with salt and pepper, transfer to a large bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Serve topped with chives, if desired.

overnight oatmeal in a jar

2012-07-13T12:33:00.002-07:00

Oatmeal is one of those crazy health foods that you should eat everyday.

But when it's steamy hot outside, the last thing I want to do is eat a huge bowl of warmth. But I love oatmeal, and I want it in my belly even though it's summer time.

I've been reading all over the internets about this overnight oatmeal. You take some oats and some milk, toss it in a jar, leave it in the fridge overnight and voila!¡ You've got oatmeal.

I have some steel cut oats and milk in the house, and I've got 5 minutes, let's try it.

I really liked it. It's not like the warm, traditional oatmeal in the sense that it's creamy with almost no liquid. This is almost like cereal. The oats have softened but not completely, so they have a really nice chew to them. I added some brown sugar, blueberries, and chopped walnuts to my bowl this morning and it filled me up without feeling like a lump in my stomach.

This recipe is so versatile, you can use soy or a nut milk in place of the dairy, you can add whatever sweetener you prefer, and add whatever topping you have in the house. Chocolate chips, marshmallows, and raspberries? You go for it.

It's oatmeal, no matter what you add to it, it's still healthy.

Overnight oatmeal
[ from the Kitchn ]

Like I said above, this recipe can be adapted to any tastes. Feel free to replace the milk with your favourite non-dairy option, maybe take out the brown sugar and use agave syrup.

1 cup steel cut oats
2 cups non-fat milk
2 teaspoons brown sugar
toppings of your choosing

In a large mason jar, or medium sized bowl, combine the oats, milk, and brown sugar. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, stir and pour a serving (about 1/2 cup of mixture) into a bowl. Top with desired topping and enjoy.

watermelon granita

2012-07-09T21:02:00.001-07:00

The heat can do crazy things to ones state of mind.

Friday, after work (yes I'm working part-time, another time we'll go over it) I had an intense craving for watermelon.

Like crazy, pregnant woman intense craving. (no I'm not pregnant, don't be thinking crazy like that)

So naturally I'm thinking, let's pack Avery up in the stroller and let's walk in the sun to go get a watermelon. Totes perfect idea.

But here's where the heat makes you crazy. Of course I'm not going to go to the TWO grocery stores literally five steps from my house, I decide to walk to a specific produce store. A 45 minute walk, one way, from my house.

Doesn't seem so bad yet right? But I decide to walk at 3:30 in the afternoon when it's about 27 degrees outside (that's 80 F for my American friends) so naturally it feels like it's about four thousand degrees outside. Whatever, I'm out enjoying the sun after all the rain, working on my tan, and Avery likes the fresh air.

Arrive at the produce store. Watermelons are priced at ¢49 a pound, so of course, I look for the biggest one I can find. My watermelon cost $11.35. I bought a 23 pound watermelon. Which I now have to put in the stroller and push along with a 13 pound child, my diaper bag which weighs at least 10 pounds, and the stroller itself which probably weighs 25 pounds. For 45 minutes. Up hill most of the way. In flip-flops.

I ate ice cream on the way home to make up for all the unintentional calories I burned.

So because I bought a stupidly enormous watermelon, I literally have a shit-ton of it. Not that it's a bad thing, but I cut 3/4 of it and it filled the biggest bowl I own so I needed to find a recipe to use up the last quarter.

Thanks PW for helping me beat the heat and keep the crazies away.

Watermelon granita
[ from Pioneer Woman ]

8 cups of seedless watermelon chunks, 1/2-1/3 watermelon rind removed and cut into chunks
juice of 2 limes
1/3 cup white sugar

In a blender, combine half of the watermelon, half of the lime juice, and half of the sugar. Blend until completely smooth, pour into a large bowl. Repeat with remaining watermelon, lime juice, and sugar.

Pour watermelon mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish and place in the freezer for 2 - 3 hours.
Remove from freezer and with a spoon, scrape the frozen layer. The sides will be more frozen and the middle will be almost slushy. Return to freezer for another 2 - 3 hours, repeat scraping process. Continue freezing and scraping until the entire mixture is frozen and scraped. Served frozen in fancy glasses.

and a picture of Jackson. Just cause. Check my pink pants and the husband's dirty foot.

sourdough bread

2012-07-06T23:03:00.003-07:00

There are just some days.

Some good days, like today. Where the sun was shining down, tanning my far too pale legs. Avery and I spent the better part of the day soaking up all the vitamin D we could.

Then there are days that are just no good.

Today turned into that once Avery decided she was going to take 2 hours to fall asleep. And like the time I made sourdough bread.

I began this process a week in advance. I made a starter, fed it and cared for it lovingly until I got that sour, almost gross smell that you need to make sourdough.

The bread dough was no different than any other yeast dough, went pretty smoothly, bread making confidence was at an all-time high.

Until we got to the baking.

Get this picture in your mind. Husband and I in kitchen getting ready to bake some bread, baby just fell asleep, cats in living room doing cat stuff, oven is preheating with Pyrex dish as per recipe states.

Totes chill right?

Insert crazy loud smashing noise coming from oven.

The Pyrex dish exploded into a gazillion pieces in the oven. It was EVERYWHERE. It sounded like a bomb went off in the oven.

Good news, baby did not wake up.

Next is me going to get our shop vac to clean out the oven once it cools down, while trying to keep the cats away from sniffing and inspecting the glass shards.

Good news, baby did not wake up during vacuuming.

After this, all was back to normalcy and baking went fine. Minus the part where the recipe tells you to use a dish in the oven with water to help steam the bread.

Did not steam, dish exploded, bread turned out fine. And the baby sleeps through anything.

Sourdough bread
[ from the Kitchn ]

Like I said above, before I could even begin to make the bread, I had to make the starter. It took a week and was dead simple. It's still living in my fridge, I feed it once a week and have not killed it yet. For a link to how I made my starter, click here.

2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups sourdough starter
4 - 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 extra cup (if needed)
1 1/2 tablespoons salt

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the water and the yeast. Stir until combined and let rest for 1 - 2 minutes or until yeast is completely dissolved. Add the sourdough starter and stir to combine.

Add 4 - 5 cups of flour to the mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon, adding only a cup at a time. Keep adding until you can non longer stir by hand. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface to knead. Knead the dough for a few minutes to bring it together. If your dough is super sticky, add more flour until you have a smooth dough. Let rest for 5 minutes. This will help the gluten relax and help with kneading later.

After the rest, flatten the dough with the heel of your palm and sprinkle in half of the salt. Fold the dough in half and flatten once again. Sprinkle with the remaining salt and fold in half once again. Knead the dough for 10 minutes. If the dough gets sticky and gummy, just knead in a couple tablespoons of flour. Let dough rest for another 5 minutes, then knead once again for 10 minutes. The dough is ready if you poke it, it springs back very quickly.

Clean out your bowl and lightly spray with oil. Place dough in bowl shake to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft free area for at least 2 hours. This dough will only rise to a quarter of its size, not double.

After the first rise, cut the dough into two equal pieces and shape into balls. Let rest for 20 minutes to let the gluten relax. Meanwhile, grease two standard loaf pans with butter or non-stick spray.

After the rest, shape the loaves by using your hands to flatten each ball into a rectangle. Fold the rectangles in 3, like a letter, and pinch the seam closed. Place loaves into prepared pans, seam down. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

The original recipe says the following ;

"When the loaves have been rising for one hour, preheat the oven to 450-degrees Fahrenheit. Place an oven-safe pan (like a broiler pan) in the very bottom of the oven.

When the loaves are ready, bring two cups of water to a boil. Using a sharp serrated knife, slash the tops of the loaves in three or four places about 1/2 inch deep. Slide the loaves into the oven and pour the boiling water into the pan. Close the door immediately to trap in the steam."

I did not do this because my "oven-safe pan" exploded in the oven. But feel free to do as the recipe states.

I still slashed the tops of the loaves, but I baked them at 450 for 10 minutes, then rotated them, turned the oven down to 400 and then cooked them for 25 minutes. They were golden brown on the top and sounded hollow when I tapped them.

Let the loaves cool for a few minutes before inverting and letting the bread cool completely on a wire rack.

Slice and serve with a lot of butter. Sans glass shards.

"hamburger" soup

2012-06-30T19:45:00.005-07:00

It's supposed to be summer.

It was supposed to start a few weeks ago.

Here in Vancouver, it's STILL RAINING.

To be clear, it rains close to 8 months a year here. Vancouver doesn't get a ton of snow, only on the mountains. It's not the snow barren, igloo palace one might think.

We've had maybe a few days of sunshine, the rest, rain.

Rain, rain, and more rain. I'm swimming in rain over here.

My strawberries are waterlogged. I'm waterlogged.

I made soup. I should not be making soup in June.

I should be eating salad and watermelon, wearing shorts, and working on my tan.

Not drinking tea, baking cookies, and wearing socks.

Anyways, I made hamburger soup, but without the hamburger. I made it with ground turkey. You can also make it with your favourite fake meat product, I like Yves ground round. If you are going to use fake meat, just add it towards the end of cooking.

"Hamburger" soup
[from Jen's mom]

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground turkey
1 onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 28oz can whole tomatoes
2 cups water
3 cups vegetable broth
1 can tomato soup
8 tablespoons barley

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, onion, carrots, and celery, cook until turkey is no longer pink and the onions are translucent, about 10 - 15 minutes. Add the thyme and bay leaf, continue cooking for 1 minute. Add can whole tomatoes, water, broth, and tomato soup, stir to combine thoroughly. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the barley and turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, or until barley is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

dirty thirty chocolate cake

2012-06-24T22:11:00.001-07:00

Last week, it was the husbands thirtieth birthday.

I had all these grandeur plans of giving him a homemade card and making him a lavish dinner, with all his favourite things, finished off with a homemade chocolate cake.

Then reality came to the party. The husband ended up working a 16 hour day, not even walking into the house until 11:30 PM. So, my grand plan, was thrown out the window.

All except for cake. Which we enjoyed at midnight. Officially, the day AFTER his thirtieth birthday.

This cake is not actually called a dirty thirty chocolate cake, I just nicknamed it that because I think I'm witty and fun. And I wrote it on the top of the cake. Because I'm awesome.

I think all ages should rhyme.

I'm twenty-seven, slice of heaven. About to be twenty-eight, frigging great!

I. AM. A. LOSER.

Chocolate layer cake
[ slightly adapted from Real Simple ]

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup strong brewed coffee
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 8-inch, round cake pans and line with parchment paper circles. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the butter and coffee and bring to a boil. Once boiled and the butter is completely melted, turn off the heat and set aside. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pour in the coffee/butter mixture and mix with an electric mixer until well combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the buttermilk and vanilla.

Divide the batter equally between the two pans, tap each pan firmly on the counter to remove any air bubbles and bake for 30 - 40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for at least 20 minutes before inverting them onto a wire rack. Let cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.

Chocolate frosting
[ from Martha Stewart ]

3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 cup natural process cocoa powder, I used Hershey's
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, combine all the ingredients and beat on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth. About 3 - 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl when needed.

buttery streusel coffee cake

2012-06-05T21:38:00.000-07:00

I was reading post earlier about motherhood and how sometimes, you want to be a bit selfish.

Sometimes I just want to sit alone in a corner.

I want to be able to go to the bathroom without having to worry about what to do with the baby.

Be able to bake without having her strapped to me.

Be able to go out for sushi without her screaming her face off for an hour, while I try and jam sashimi in my face and wipe the pouring embarrassment sweat off my face.

This is the real motherhood no one talks about.

But that's okay. Because even at 4 am when I'm had too much wine, that smile will melt my heart and make me forget that it took you 2 hours to fall asleep and you were a demon child all afternoon.

I'm grateful that I have a beautiful baby girl, who for the most part is an excellent child, who sleeps in ten hour stretches at night, is totally healthy, and makes my day that much more special.

And by special, I mean pooping up to her ears.

Buttery streusel coffee cake

[ from the Kitchn ]

This buttery cake is super simple and a great way to start off with yeast if you've never used it before. The rise takes place overnight in the refrigerator, so it's perfect cake to make on a Saturday night. Takes a few minutes to prep, then just pop it in the oven Sunday morning and you have a beautiful treat.

1/3 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons dry active yeast

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 whole egg, plus 2 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon salt

topping:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup sugar

pinch salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed

In a small bowl sprinkle the 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and yeast over the warm water, let rest for 10 minutes or until foamy.

While the yeast foams, in the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle, combine the flour, the remaining sugar, and the butter. Beat on medium speed until the mixture is well combined, almost creamed. Add the eggs and vanilla, followed by the salt and yeast/water mixture. Mix until just combined.

Place dough into a large, well greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Then place the dough in the fridge overnight.

The next day, remove the dough from the fridge and let come to room temperature. About 45 minutes to an hour.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 350 and prepare streusel topping.

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredient for the topping and using either a pastry cutter or your hand (like me), blend the ingredients together until the butter is well worked into the mixture.

Coat a tube pan with nonstick spray and press the dough into the pan. The dough is super sticky. Top with streusel topping and bake for 45 - 55 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean and the top is golden brown.

Let rest for 5 minutes in the pan before running a thin knife along the edges to remove the cake from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

iced ginger lemon green tea

2012-06-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

Do you want to know what's not a good idea?

Drinking too much wine, staying up way too late, getting 3.5 hours sleep, and being responsible for a small child while massively hungover.

That was my Saturday morning. The sound of the coffee brewing sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

My head was pouring, my mouth was like a desert, I was still in the red wine fog, yet I had to feed/change/entertain a 3 month old.

Bad, bad, bad, very horrible situation.

Lesson learned. Next time, drink non-red wine drinks.

Ginger lemon green tea. Much better. Clean, fresh, sweet, spicy, no risk of hangover, much better choice.

Unless you add vodka or gin to it......

Not saying that's a bad idea......

Iced ginger lemon green tea

[ from the Kitchn ]

1/4 oz good quality Chinese green tea leaves

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup agave syrup

3/4 ginger syrup (recipe below)

lemon slices for garnish

Place the tea leaves in a large bowl. Boil 3 1/2 cups of cold water and then let rest for 5 minutes. pour hot water over the tea leaves and let steep for 5 minutes. Strain, keeping the liquid and throwing out the tea leaves.

In a large pitcher, mix together the lemon juice, steeped green tea, agave syrup, ginger syrup, and 8 cups of cold, filtered water. Stir well and let sit the refrigerator overnight.

Serve with lots of ice and lemon slices for garnish.

Ginger syrup

This recipe makes about 5 cups, which is much more than the 3/4 cup that you need in this recipe. Keep the extras for more of this delicious tea or add 3 tablespoons a cup of club soda and you've got homemade ginger ale. Aren't you fancy?

1/2 lb fresh ginger root, with skin on

3 cups white sugar

2 cups water

Cut the ginger into 1/2-inch nubs and whizz in the food processor until the pieces are fine and stringy, like small wood chips.

Place the sugar and water in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until sugar has dissolved. Add the ginger and turn off the heat. Let saucepan cool on the stove and then place in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, strain the syrup twice through a fine mesh strainer to get all the little bits out. Store unused syrup in an airtight jar. This syrup will keep for a couple of weeks as long as it is refrigerated.

cheese biscuits

2012-05-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we the husband planted me a herb garden.

I'm not one for plants really. Actually, I kill them. I either over water, under water, too much sun, not enough sun, let them get eaten by cats, amongst other things.

But this year I am determined to keep the plants alive. I'm not going to kill them.

My black thumb will turn green.

Or check back in a month when I've killed them all.

What I am good at, is biscuits.

Fluffy, warm, soft, cheesy, biscuits.

With lots of butter. I can't kill those.

Cheese biscuits
[ from Grazing ]

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour in the olive oil and buttermilk and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Add the cheddar cheese and fold gently. Be wary not to over mix, it will make your biscuits tough.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently 5 times. Pat or roll the dough out into a rectangle, about 1/2-inch thick, then fold it over onto itself. Roll the dough again and fold it onto itself once more, then finally roll the dough out to be 1/2-inch thick. This creates flaky layers for the biscuits. Cut the dough into circles, or cut into squares like I did. Place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

Serve warm with lots of butter.

lemony quinoa, chickpea, + kale salad

2012-05-24T14:04:00.000-07:00

Running.

Laundry.

Coffee.

Feed and change the baby. Times a thousand.

Catch up on the t-flo debacle.

More laundry.

Trying to bake in the 25 minute naps my daughter takes. About 5 times a day.

Stuffing my face with quinoa salad, feeling healthy, but then eating some chocolate right after.

Balance people. I'm still trying to figure it out, but it's getting better.

In my search to find balance, I'm always searching for a healthy meal. For some reason, I always seem to think meatless / vegan / vegetarian meals are best. Nothing makes me feel better than whole grains, beans, and tons of veg.

Well, a really big spoonful of cream cheese frosting makes me feel pretty damn good too.

ps. every time I hear about Joy & Tracy refer to mesh panties, I almost pee from laughing.

pps. I need cookie butter.

ppps. Trader Joe's need to be in Canada, ASAP.

Lemony quinoa, chickpea + kale salad

[ adapted from Love and Lemons ]

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups green kale, roughly chopped
4 radishes, sliced
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 fresh basil, chopped
salt & pepper to taste

dressing:

3 tablespoons olive oil
juice and zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon amber agave syrup

In a small bowl, whisk together all of your dressing ingredients. Season to taste with salt & pepper, set aside.

Place the minced garlic in a large bowl, followed by the warm quinoa and kale, toss to combine. Let rest for a few minutes and then toss in the remaining ingredients. You want to give the kale time to wilt a little bit before added all the other good stuff in. Toss in the dressing and season to taste with salt & pepper.

avocado toast

2012-05-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

Want a super fast lunch/snack/breakfast that won't take any longer than popping something in the microwave, but it's waaaayyyy healthier?

Of course you do.

Avocado + toast.

And go!

Start with putting a couple slices of your favourite bread into the toaster. Toast until desired darkness is reached. I like whole grain bread and toasted to almost burnt. Yep, I like burnt toast. Weirdo.

Next slice open a ripe avocado.

Eat some chips while you wait for your toast.

Scoop some of the ripe, green flesh on to your toast.

Mash it up with a fork and cover the whole surface.

Now you could eat it just like this OR you could add some salt.

Or a slice of ham.

Or some sliced tomatoes.

Whatever you like.

Eat it up!

quinoa + blueberry muffins

2012-05-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

After carrying, and delivering a small human, I've gained a bit of weight.

I'm back on the fitness wagon and trying to eat healthy, running 3 times a week, eating kale and oatmeal and such.

But sometimes handfuls of chocolate and popcorn end up in mouth. I don't know how it happens. It's like a mental blackout. One minute I'm noshing on a carrot, then darkness, then I'm eating popcorn slathered in butter.

I'm about 15lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight and I know I'm close, I can feel it. I think super foods will help.

Quinoa, blueberries, flaxseeds, maple syrup, walnuts, oats, cinnamon. Mix 'em up, make muffins, gobble them down, scorch those last pounds!

Let's do it! And then eat a whole spoonful of frosting.

Wait.....

Scratch that last part.

Superfood muffins

[ adapted from Bittersweet ]

The original recipe was 100% vegan, but since I don't keep soymilk in the house and ran out of agave, this is not vegan. To make this vegan once again, replace the milk with soy or almond milk.

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon flaxseeds

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 cups cooked quinoa

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a standard muffin tin with liners, set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, flaxseeds, walnuts, and blueberries, stir to combine thoroughly. In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together the quinoa, oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, milk, and orange juice. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until no dry clumps remain.

Divide batter equally amongst the muffin tin and bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let muffins rest in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

double chocolate butterscotch muffins

2012-05-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

On a beautiful, sweaty, sunny day in May, we're celebrating moms every where.

This year was different for me, I got to partake in the mom pampering (yay!). I got a batch of cookies made by Avery (with help from grandma), a lovely card, a sleep in, and a homemade breakfast.

Now that I've been a mom for a short bit, I can appreciate my mom in a different light.

Thank you mom for waking up at all hours of the night to care for me.

Thanks for still loving me after I would poop up to my ears.

And throwing up on you.

And treating you like garbage in my teenage years.

Thanks for being there to give me advice in raising this small child.

Thanks for reminding me that there is no handbook when you leave the hospital. They just let you walk right out the door with this thing.

Thanks for helping me be the person I am today.

Thanks for teaching me that you need chocolate to survive motherhood.

For real. All moms know this.

These "muffins" will help.

The recipe was first labelled as a breakfast muffin, which these are not. They are more cupcake-y. Still amazing. You should still make them. And eat them for breakfast.

I'm not going to lie. I did.

A girl's gotta survive 5 am wake up calls somehow.

Double chocolate butterscotch muffins
[ from the Kitchn ]

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons red cider vinegar
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a standard muffin tin with liners, set aside.

Melt the butter in the microwave and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine. Combine the butter, milk, vanilla, and vinegar in a small bowl, making sure to add the vinegar last . Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredient and stir with a wooden spoon until no dry clumps remain. Fold in the chocolate and butterscotch chips. Divide batter equally in the muffin tin.

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until the tops are no longer shiny and a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

wordless wednesday ~ cat silhouettes

2012-05-09T07:49:00.001-07:00

mini pretzel dogs

2012-05-07T14:17:00.003-07:00

Back when I was pregnant, early November-ish, the husband and I attended a charity function with my dad. At this function there was a silent auction with many different things to choose from.

As a gift, my dad purchased an ENORMOUS magnum of french wine. The idea was that as soon as the baby was born, we'd crack that sucker open and all get snackered off the wine.

Well folks, that happened last weekend. It was an appetizer, wine, birthday, welcome Avery party all-in-one. As part of the festivities, you were required to bring an appetizer and really what's better to eat with a classy bottle of french wine than pretzel wrapped hot dogs?

Nothing. These were perfect.

Chicken dogs, halved, then wrapped in homemade salty pretzel dough, dipped in mustard.

Amazeballs.

They were a huge hit, and really simple and fun to make.

Get over your yeast fear and make some pretzel dogs!

ps. Giant wine bottles make babies look tiny.

pps. We didn't give her any, don't be ridiculous.

ppps. I love wine.

Mini pretzel dogs
[ from Joy the baker ]

Makes about 16 pretzel dogs.

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
8 hot dogs of your choice, cut in half
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
about 14 cups of water
1 cup baking soda
1 large egg, beaten with a little bit of water
salt & pepper for topping

In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, combine the warm water and sugar, sprinkle yeast on top and let rest for at least 5 minutes. Yeast should be foamy and smell, well yeasty, if it doesn't, throw away and start fresh.

Add the flour, salt, and butter, mix on low speed until well-combined. Turn mixer up to medium and knead until smooth, pulls away from bowl, and forms a ball around the dough hook, around 6 minutes.
Remove dough from bowl, it'll be kind of sticky. Lightly coat a large bowl with oil and place dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and brush paper lightly with oil.

In a very large pot, combine the water and baking soda and bring to a boil.

While the water comes to a boil, divide the dough in 16 equal pieces. Roll a piece of dough into a 12-inch rope. Start wrapping dough around the hot dog piece, making sure there are no gaps and pinching the ends when finished. Repeat until all the dough has been used.

Place 6 - 8 pretzel dogs in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove using a slotted spatula and place on the prepared baking sheets, repeat until all pretzel dogs have been boiled. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake for 12 - 14 minutes, or until dark brown and puffy. Let cool slightly and serve.

They are best enjoyed the day they are made.

banana muffins with steel-cut oats

2012-05-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the husband and I's second wedding anniversary.

I thought we were going to keep it low-key since we're going to a fancy night out in a few weeks, but he came home early to take me out for a surprise lunch.

Nice right?

I wasn't home. I was having lunch with the ladies from my baby group.

I felt bad, but then again, I didn't know he was going to come home. Anyways, he gave me a beautiful orchid and a stash of french macarons.

To make up for everything I was going to make a lovely dinner and we were going to have some wine, and just enjoy ourselves at home.

The reality slapped us in the face and we ended up spending the evening at a walk-in clinic (over 2 hours to be exact) because Avery's finger has somehow gotten infected.

After the clinic, getting the prescription, putting Avery to bed, and making a quick dinner, we weren't in the mood for anything but the couch. We watched No Reservations, Vancouver episode (!!!) and then went to bed.

Sounds like a pretty fantastic way to spend an anniversary to me.

Banana muffins with steel-cut oats

[ from the Kitchn]

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour ( or any other whole grain flour)

1/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup mashed banana (about 2 large)

1/3 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup cooked steel-cut oats (cooking instructions here)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tin with liners, or grease liberally with butter or non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend completely.

In another medium sized bowl, whisk together the banana, milk, lemon juice, oil, vanilla, eggs, and the steel cuts oats. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Spoon evenly into prepared muffin tin and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until muffins are lightly golden and a tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

love this guy.

kitchen sink cookies

2012-04-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Heartbroken.

Yet not surprised at all.

Our Canucks were spectacularly knocked out in the first round of the Stanley cup playoffs.

It's surreal that we can play so well sometimes, yet play like poop other days.

It's going to be a very long summer without them, but thankfully I have a tiny, doll faced little girl to dress up all summer. It evens out.

To all you hockey fans whose teams have been knocked out, consider these cookies to drown your sorrows, instead of the usual ice cream.

Filled with the regular goodies like chocolate chips and oatmeal, there are also a few tasty surprises tucked away in these cookies. Rice krispies anyone?

Kitchen sink cookies
[ from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey ]

This is adapted from the original to be a half batch of cookies. If you want a million of these cookies go ahead and make a full batch, but I warn you, you will need an obnoxiously huge bowl to mix them in. The half batch will fill (to the brim) my 5L kitchenaid mixer bowl.

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups walnut pieces

Position baking racks to the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, or another large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars over medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition, followed by the vanilla. In another large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix until completely combined. Add the rice krispies, coconut, rolled oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts, mix on low speed until combined.

Drop 1/4 cup-sized balls onto baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly with fingers. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until outside edges are golden brown and the middles are still slightly soft. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire baking rack to cool completely.

friday recap

2012-04-20T17:01:00.002-07:00

I have baked, but no time to post about it yet but let's recap what's being going on behind the scenes in my life.

My new favourite snack, pineapple yogurt. Too bad they don't sell Chobani in Canada....

The babe is growing like a weed and smiling constantly. Melts my heart like butter.

First orzo salad of the year, not to be the last.

New favourite breakfast, eggs cooked in pepper rings.

COOOOOOKIES. and feets.

sigh........

turkey burgers

2012-04-10T14:28:00.002-07:00

After 40 straight minutes of Avery crying in her room, exhaustion finally took over and she fell asleep.

I turn to the husband and say, "Let's go downstairs and watch movies we have on the PVR."

"Nah, let's just go to bed."

"It's 8 o'clock. Isn't that a little early?"

"No, we're parents now. Totally acceptable."

Pausing to think of a response to make him not sound correct I reply, "So what was our excuse before?"

"We were lazy."

True facts.

By 8:35 pm, we were both in bed. And I have to say, it was glorious.

Of course we didn't sleep through the night, turn down the ridiculous. But it did feel nice to get that head start of sleep.

But before our early night, we enjoyed a warm weather favourite, turkey burgers. It was a balmy 21 degrees C yesterday (that's 69 F for my American friends), so the husband cleaned up the barbecue and I made burgers.

I don't eat red meat and I encourage the husband not to, so we always have ground turkey in the house as a replacement. I loosely use my mom's recipe for homemade burgers, I just add a whole head of roasted garlic.

The garlic is very prevalent in the burgers, but not so much that it's unenjoyable. But if you are not a garlic fan, first off I'm sorry, second this is not for you.

Turkey burgers
Makes 4 patties.

1 lb lean ground turkey, preferably a 85/15 split
1 head roasted garlic
1 large egg
3 tablespoons fine bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
dash of worcestershire sauce

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix with hands until thoroughly combined. Using a spoon would work too, but your hand are much more fun.

Shape mixture into 4 equal sized patties. Place a on hot grill, about 375 - 400 degrees. Cook for 5 minutes, then flip. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes or until juices run clear and the inside is no longer pink.

Serve on freshly baked kaiser rolls with your favourite toppings. Mine are mustard, pan fried mushrooms, pickles, lettuce and tomato.

chocolate chip cinnamon rolls

2012-04-03T13:46:00.001-07:00

It's another beautiful day of liquid sunshine here in Vancouver, like I should be surprised at this point. It's April, of course it's going to rain in Vancouver.

We're all more concerned about hockey playoffs. The husband swears the Canucks won't make it out of the first round, there's PSA's being shown telling us not to riot, but on the other hand they are still planning for large, group viewings.

I think the city if under a cloud of anxiety and apprehension after what happened last year. We were so good, we won the Presidents trophy, we dominated every team we played, yet we still lost.

Maybe we just don't want to get emotionally invested because we don't want the heartbreak of last year ?

Maybe we're just happy to see the Leafs miss the playoffs once again.

Whether we're out in the first round, or playing Boston for the cup again, I think we need some chocolate to calm our nerves. Maybe some wine as well. But not too much wine, remember last year ?

For Sunday morning breakfast, cinnamon rolls are always amazing. Add chocolate and they are taken over the top. The dough has a couple teaspoons of cinnamon tucked in it to really kick up the cinnamon flavour. I liked these roll, they had all the great properties of a cinnamon roll. Warm, gooey, sticky, sweet, plus with the addition of chocolate, it made them extra messy to eat. But I have to say, the dough was not my favourite. It didn't rise as much as I thought and it was tough. Next time I think I'll use the dough recipe from my cream cheese cinnamon rolls , but change the filling to follow this recipe. They were still delicious and a perfect Sunday morning treat, just not my favourite.

Chocolate chip cinnamon rolls with vanilla glaze

[ from the Naptime chef ]

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 egg

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

filling:

3/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

glaze:

2 cups icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons milk, or more if needed

To make the dough, combine the milk and butter in a microwave safe dish and heat until butter has melted, pour into bowl of stand mixer and let cool slightly. Add the rest of the dough ingredient to the milk mixture, mix over medium speed with the paddle attachment for 3 minutes. Change to the dough hook attachment, knead over medium until dough is smooth and slaps the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes. Alternatively, you could knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured surface. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, let rise in a warm, draft free area for about 2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

While the dough rises, make the filling. Melt the butter in a small bowl. Mix in the cinnamon and brown sugar. Set aside.

Once dough has risen, roll out on a floured surface to a 14x12-inch rectangle. Spread the filling over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border all the way around. Sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips. Beginning with the longer edge of the rectangle, tightly start rolling the dough. Make sure to roll quite tightly or the rolls will fall apart, pinch seams when done. Slice dough log into 8 equal sized pieces. Place rolls in a well buttered dish, cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for at least another hour. Cover dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, take the dish out of the fridge and bring to room temperature. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until tops are golden brown.

While rolls are baking, add all the ingredients for the glaze in a medium bowl, whisk until smooth.

Serve rolls with a heavy-handed swirl of glaze with a fresh cup of coffee.

blackberry white chocolate scones

2012-03-28T10:48:00.002-07:00

After a crazy month, this week has finally started to feel like normal.

Well, if by normal means you have a tiny, pink human attached to you at all times, that requires feeding and changing every hour or so.

I've *kinda* figured out a routine, which *kinda* gives me more time to bake. Still neglecting all the cleaning and laundry I should be doing though...... Also still not sleeping a whole bunch, but who needs sleep anyways?

Totally overrated.

I'll just keep myself going on chocolate and caffeine.

Totally healthy.

Okay, not really.

Kinda figuring out a routine still really hasn't given me much time to eat, so I baked something that's handheld (read: can be eaten while holding her pinkness), somewhat healthy, and involves chocolate.

Stroll on into scone town. Blackberry white chocolate to be exact. Made with whole wheat flour. Three for three on the criteria.

Quickly thrown together in the food processor and dropped onto a baking sheet with a large ice cream scoop, in 25 minutes or so, you'll have freshly baked scones.

Blackberry white chocolate scones
[ from Grazing ]

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup blackberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup roughly chopped white chocolate

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

In a food processor, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse 3 to 4 times, or until mixture looks crumbly and the butter chunks are not bigger than small peas. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and the egg. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and pulse until just combined. Gently fold in the berries and chocolate.

Using a large ice cream scoop (or 2 spoons), drop spoonfuls of dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until the edges are golden and the top are just starting to brown.

Transfer to a wire baking sheet to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

wordless wednesday ~ big cat, little Avery

2012-03-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

digestive biscuits

2012-03-15T10:33:00.002-07:00

There are certain things I never expect the husband to say.

"Of course I'll cook dinner, and do the dishes, and clean up, and feed the baby, and pour you unlimited glasses of wine."

" I think we aren't busy enough, so let's get another kitten."

" No, I don't mind if you spend hundreds of dollars on tiny pink clothes."

" These cookies would be better without the chocolate."

All of these seem far too ridiculous to be true.... Except for the last statement. That sentence was actually spoken after the husband took a bite out of one of the homemade digestive cookies I made.

I turned and looked at him, with complete shock spread all across my face. You, the man who tells me I should put chocolate in everything I bake, is telling me these cookies would be better WITHOUT the addition of chocolate?!?!?!?!?!

If I wasn't holding the baby, I may have fallen over.

While we all recover from the events that just happened, let's go over the cookies shall we?

They taste exactly like the store bought version, but mine were slightly thicker. They are sweet, crunchy, nutty, and coated with the perfect amount of chocolate.

Homemade digestive biscuits

[ adapted from the little loaf ]

1 1/4 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 - 2 teaspoons milk

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, pulse the oats until they have reached a fine powder, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and butter, blend until a crumbly dough forms. Slowly add milk until the dough comes together in a smooth mass. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Once chilled, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes, I used a quarter-pint mason jar to achieve a round shape. Place shapes onto cookies sheets and bake for 15 minutes, or until cookies begin to brown around the edges. Remove cookies from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

While the cookies are cooling, melt the chocolate in a shallow bowl. ( I used the microwave, set for a minute at a time until desired consistency is achieved. Any longer in the microwave will burn the chocolate.) Dip one side of the cooled cookie into the melted chocolate, making sure to evenly spread it around. Place cookie back on baking rack, dipped side up, to set.

Store leftovers at room temperature, in an airtight container for up to 3 days.