Appetizer

These appetizers were for Thanksgiving too. My aunt makes something like this for family dinners so I tried it, but it took a few attempts to get it right and by the end there weren't enough ingredients! So now I know, and can re-create them for some other event.

You take a big tortilla, slather it in cream cheese, cover it in basil leaves, then put a big stripe of pepper slices at the end closest to you. Then roll it away from you, wrapping super tightly. Once you have a tube, cut it into little pinwheel circles and you're set.

Chocolate Gingerbread Squares

We had the most lovely thanksgiving this weekend...

I made these squares and then had to make another batch because their numbers were dwindling before we had even left. They are amazing. It's the best of all worlds... ginger.. allspice... chocolate chips... I'm never going to stop making them.



The recipe is from Martha Stewart, who is clearly some kind of genius.

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for pan
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom with a strip of parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper. Dust paper and sides of pan with cocoa; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, ginger, allspice, and baking soda; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar, molasses, egg, and sour cream until smooth. Add flour mixture; stir just until moistened (do not overmix). Stir in chocolate chips. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Using paper overhang, lift gingerbread from pan. Transfer to a cutting board, and cut into 16 squares. Before serving, dust bars with confectioners sugar, if desired.

I went way heavy on the spices because I have a bit of a problem with loving them.
So anyway, please make these. They're life changing.

Mmm.. Homey

I didn't actually make any of this... but it was so great, I had to show it off. I've got a fake chicken breast, some steamed asparagus and gorgeous mashed potatoes courtesy of Jeremy, and hot mushroom gravy to top it off. Delicious! It tasted like Thanksgiving.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I've never actually made banana bread before, so this was an adventure. It turned out pretty well, but I'm not completely satisfied. The bananas weren't over-ripe like they should have been because I didn't want to wait any longer to make this - but I think that would have definitely improved the bread. Next time, I'm going to force myself to be patient and I think I'd like to try a different recipe as well. Not that there were any major problems with this one, but experimenting couldn't hurt. I used a recipe from Gracious Rain, but used mostly whole wheat flour, and added 1/2 tsp. vanilla and cinnamon.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm on a roll, so I baked some more goods.

This time I kept it simple, with a recipe from A Dash of Sass. This version is only slightly different - I used half AP flour and half whole wheat, substituted allspice for nutmeg, and used a whole cup of chocolate chips instead of 3/4.


Here's a flock in their natural habitat:



But I captured one (...three) to be devoured with milk.


They were delicious, and I'll definitely use this recipe again. Perhaps my most successful cookies to date!

Brownies

I'm feeling bakey, apparently.

Suddenly, this evening, I had the urge to make brownies, so I did! I slightly varied a recipe from Cooking Stuff and added icing too.

Brownies:
3/4 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 tbsp. water
9 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 325F
In a small bowl, mix the flour, soda, and salt. In a saucepan, bring butter, water and sugar to a boil then remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and 1 1/2 c. of chocolate until melted. Add the eggs and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients. Pour into buttered pan and sprinkle the rest of the chips on top. Bake for 35 -40 minutes until a toothpick comes out almost (but not quite) clean. Allow to cool on a rack.

I hear you get better results if your eggs are at room temperature. I don't know if that's true or not, so whatever. It couldn't hurt. This is what they looked like fresh out of the oven:




I had some filling left over in the freezer from yesterday's baking adventure, so I heated it in the microwave and added 2 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa. Then I put it back in the freezer to set up a little while the brownies were baking and cooling. I'm not sure if it was exactly half that I was left with, but I think it was pretty close so the recipe below should be accurate. You could just add more or less cocoa as needed.

Icing:
1/3c. butter
1 1/4 tbsp. boiling water
1 1/4 c. icing sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 tbsp. cocoa

The real Jos Louis (from scratch!)

I spent the afternoon baking today and ended up making a Jos Louis style cakelette. The recipe comes from Great Canadian Cakes - it didn't ask for the icing, but I used a ganache I found in the same book and can't imagine these without it. I found I had way too much filling, so I'm saving the excess but next time would only make half. (I'll halve it in the recipe below)




For the cakes:

1/2 c. Shortening
1 c. Granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. cocoa
1 c. milk

For the filling:
2/3c. butter
2 1/2 tbsp. boiling water
2 1/2 c. icing sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, cream shortening, then beat in sugar. Add eggs and mix well. Add vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa.
Mix dry ingredients and milk into egg mixture alternately, one-third of the flour mixture and half of the milk at a time, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
Drop heaping tablespoons of cake batter onto a greased cookie sheet, leaving space for cakes to expand while cooking.
Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Cool on a rack.

For filling: cream butter and mix in boiling water 1 tbsp at a time. Add icing sugar 1 c. at a time while beating constantly, then add vanilla. Filling should be thick.

Spread top of 1 cake with filling and place second cake on top.

Chill until filling sets, then cover with ganache and chill again.


Pourable Chocolate Ganache:
1/2 c. whipping cream
4 oz. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Heat whipping cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until just below the boiling point.
Remove from heat, stir in chocolate until melted, then beat until completely smooth, about 10 seconds.
Let cool until the consistency is right for pouring, about 1 hour. If the chocolate becomes too thick, it can be reheated for a few seconds in the microwave or over a double boiler.

I'm into herbs these days.

All my pictures look the same, but I swear they all taste different. This was the first time I've ever used fresh tarragon! I had a weird mix of ingredients in the house, so this is what came out of them.

I put green peppers, broccoli, green onions and chopped tarragon in a pan with some olive oil, and then discovered that all of my fake beef strips and tofu was expired. There were some fake chicken breasts in the freezer though, so I used one. And I had already opened a can of chick peas, so even though it seemed weird, I used them too. Some salt.. some pepper... Oh! And half of an all-vegetable chicken stock cube

It was awesome.

Eggs

I just had a lovely omelette. Although, I use the term omelette loosely because it was really just scrambled eggs with a bunch of stuff mixed in. Either way, it was delicious.

I used a clove of garlic, one big green onion, a third of a red pepper (diced), and a mix of dill havarti and medium cheddar that we bought at the farmer's market. Also invoved were salt, pepper, and herbes du provence.

There aren't any pictures, but I felt I should document it anyway because it was so tasty.

Look at these flowers instead!

Basil, Pasta, Vegetables.

It's been a long time since I've actually cooked. I went to PEI, and ever since I got back things have been a little off kilter. But I bought fresh ingredients and promised myself I would use them. This is what came out of it. It was so good... way better than anything else I've made. There was fresh basil involved, and I'm sure that was part of it because otherwise this is pretty standard.

In it is:

EVOO
1 red pepper
1 zucchini
1/2 a broccoli crown
1/2 package of fake ground beef
handfuls of coarsely chopped fresh spinach
handfuls of more finely chopped fresh basil
1/2 tbsp (ish) butter
grated parmesan
pepper
2 servings of pasta

that made about 2 portions. I had it for lunch today too!

Rice and Lentils (and corn, and broccoli...)

It's corn season!

My mom used to make us Rice and Lentils with cream of mushroom soup and I've been thinking about it lately, so I got some instructions and it turned out to be crazy easy. I usually hate the phrase 'comfort food', but this totally is one so it can't be avoided. And with low-fat soup, it's not even that bad for me.

Use 1/4 c. lentils to 3/4c. brown rice, and empty a can of cream of mushroom soup into a measuring cup. Fill with water until it gets to 2c., then pour in a pot with the rice and lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and let it cook until all the liquid has been absorbed.
That's it! Add some salt, and you've got dinner.

Pasta with Garlic and Parmesan (etc.)

I bought a lot of parsley. Like, a lot of parsley. It just all happened so fast... And to make matters worse, we're leaving town for the weekend so my produce will be left unsupervised.

So basically, whatever I made tonight had to use up a sizeable chunk. I made up some kind of pasta/fakemeat/garlic/parmesan thing, and it worked out really well. I'm definitely going to try and repeat it. I intended to use fake ground beef, but realized at the last second that I had accidentally bought fake ground chicken instead. It was no big deal, and may even have been better this way.


I used:
3 cloves garlic, diced
1/4 yellow onion
1 orange pepper
2 stalks broccoli
2 stalks green onion
handful chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c. parmesan
1 1/2c. macaroni
1/2 pkg. soy ground chicken
Salt, pepper, garlic salt.

To start, put a pot on to boil with heavily salted water, and steam the broccoli in the microwave for 2 minutes. Heat a pan over low heat with 1 tbsp. olive oil. Add garlic and onion and simmer until they've browned a little. Put macaroni in water. Add peppers, broccoli, and green onion to the pan and turn up to medium. Saute for several minutes, then add ground soy. Once the pasta is ready, strain it and add to pan. Add remaining tbsp. of oil, and toss. Add parmesan, parsley, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. I think this is best with a ton of pepper, but do it to taste of course. Cook for a few more minutes, then serve! This makes 2 large portions, and probably 4 side dish portions.

Strawberry Oat Muffins

I'm in the mood for muffins!

These turned out pretty well. They were dense and hearty, and not very sweet - definitely a healthy-breakfast item, not something you'd bring to a brunch. I went for the absolute healthiest, lowest fat, lowest sugar, lowest calorie recipe I could find... but I think I can do better, so I'm not getting too attached to this one. More are on the way, because I still have a ton of raspberries and banana in the fridge.



I got the recipe here: http://www.kelownaparents.com/?p=67

1c. whole wheat flour
1c. rolled oats
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnacom
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. yogurt
1/2c. brown sugar
1 c. strawberries

Pre-heat oven to 425. Grease 12 muffin cups. In a large bowl, mix flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In a seperate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, yogurt and sugar. Mix in strawberries. Stir strawberry mixture until evenly moist. Spoon into cups. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

They're about 115 calories each.

Basic Oatmeal

I had a nice breakfast this morning and thought I would sing oatmeal's praises.

When we were kids, it was mandatory to eat a bowl of oatmeal while waiting for the pizza guy to arrive - my mom felt better about letting us eat junk if we filled up on something super healthy first. It was a pretty solid plan, and I grew up associating oatmeal with good times. It's the absolute easiest to make, and there's nothing better than a big bowl of something warm in the early hours. (Okay, it's 10:30.)

There are tons of fancier ways to do this, but I like to keep it as simple as possible so I'm never disappointed if we're out of anything. I know I have oats, I know I have water.. that's all I need. Also, I'm more inclined to make it if it takes minimal effort.

I use 1/3c. quick oats and 3/4 c. water. (You could switch some or all of that out for milk)

Put it in a pot and bring it to a boil (stirring, stirring). Set it to low and let it simmer until it looks like oatmeal. Turn the heat off, and let it settle for a minute or two.. then it's done!

I suggest topping it with brown sugar, cinnamon and berries. Although, if you want to make it hilariously diet-friendly..... I swap the brown sugar for light syrup. It tastes fine, but I don't think I would serve it to anybody else like that.

A hilarious and delicious adventure.

It was late.

Somehow or another, I managed to convince Jeremy that there would be nothing more satisfying than a homemade ice cream sandwich using a shredded wheat biscuit instead of cookies. The dry crunchiness giving way to sweet, creamy insides... I can't think of anything I'd rather eat.
But here's the best part - it was actually awesome. The flavour contrast was kind of like eating ice cream from a cone, but the wheat splinters mixing in made it way better.

I can't believe I'm recommending this, but man.. have a shredded wheat ice cream sandwich right now.

Sweet Potato Fries

I've just discovered the sweet potato, and boy am I smitten. This is the only thing I can do with them so far, but it might be all I ever need.

I looked at some recipes for common tips on making fries, and then just kind of made it up as I went along. The result: sooooo delicious. I had them with some tofu and arugula in a PC garlic and rosemary marinade.




I used a whole sweet potato, on the smallish side. I peeled it, cut in half and then into strips. Then I boiled them for 5 minutes at the suggestion of the internet (and dried them off a little afterward to make sure the oil would stick). I put a layer of tin foil on a baking sheet, and sprayed it with low-cal canola oil. After spreading out the strips so that none were touching, I gave them a coating of spray-oil, and sprinked sea salt, black pepper, and cinnamon over them. Mix them up so that everything's coated in spice, and it's good to go. I put them on the top rack of the oven at 425 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Beans and Vegetables

Today was the Hamilton Potter's Guild sale; there was tons of great stuff and I bought myself a really incredible plate. It demanded a good-looking dinner, so this is what I made:



I made two portions of this and saved one for tomorrow. Here's what's in it.

1/2 c. green lentils
1 c. pinto beans
1 c. chick peas
3/4 broccoli crown
1/2 can green beans
1/2 package frozen spinach
1 zucchini
3/4 c. pasta sauce
parmesan cheese

Instead of using regular oil in the pan, I tried this spray kind I found with hardly any calories - 10 per 1 second spray. It worked just as well, and I love not having to add an extra 100 to whatever I'm eating.

It was pretty good, but I think next time I'm going to try out some fresh herbs or something.

Also, the other day I made sweet potato fries and they were amazing. I was too excited to blog it, but I'll do it again this week for sure.

It was warm today!

Today's dinner involved a trip to the grocery store and I wasn't really in the mood to cook, so I got a couple of weirdo items as inspiration. I've been doing the teriyaki thing for days so this was supposed to be more fresh and springy.


I used (in the order they went in):
A whole zucchini
Half an orange pepper
Cremini mushrooms
about 1/2 c. black beans
about 3/4 c. fava beans
about 1/2 c. diced tomatoes
A big handful of rapini cut into 2" pieces (I blanched this first)

Around the end I threw in some garlic powder and herbes du provences, but would skip the powder next time.

I've never had rapini before - it looks like a broccoli/lettuce hybrid and the internet thinks it's an acquired taste. It definitely had a distinct flavour, a bit like brussels sprouts, but I liked it. And the mushrooms smelled soo good at the beginning of this.

The whole thing was pretty good, but I wish I was better at spices and sauces. It could have done without the tomatoes, because they made it feel like it should taste more like something else. It might have been nice just to have the flavours of the different vegetables. I'll do some reading and come up with a new sauce that has nothing to do with asian cooking and still has almost no calories. Or possibly, eat more teriyaki.

Feefy Stuff

When I was a kid, one of the regular meals in rotation was Beefy Stuff: a glorious mix of ground beef, tomato sauce, and macaroni. It was the best. But for some reason, I've never even tried to make it as an adult. So I did! (With fake beef of course).


I set up 1/2 c. macaroni to boil, and microwaved my vegetables (spinach and broccoli). I put a bit of oil in a pan and tossed in 2/3 c. ground soy. When the pasta was almost finished, I put some pasta sauce in with the soy and added the spinach and broccoli. At the very end, the pasta went in to absorb some flavour. Then eating! It was delicious.

Stir Fry: TNG

I like stir frying.

Today at the grocery store I got a bunch of vegetables I wouldn't normally even look at, and used them for dinner tonight. It's probably totally regular for everybody else, but I'm new at this whole thing so it was exciting for me.


It was basic stir-fry procedure, but full of:

1/2 package Tofu marinated in Teriyaki sauce
1 Zucchini
1/2 Eggplant
3 stalks of Bok Choy
1 stalk of Green Onion

I didn't like the texture of the eggplant at the end, but I think that might be because I should have put it in sooner. I still have half of it left, so I guess we'll see what happens next time.

What kind of beans go with teriyaki? Any?

Muffins!

I attempted a low-cal oatmeal muffin. It came out a little sticky, but greatly improved over time.

They were super tasty, and I had a nice breakfast snack for weeks afterwards.

Here are the ingredients:
1 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1 c. non-fat milk
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened apple sauce
2 egg whites
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
(I also threw in some allspice)
Top with:
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. sugar

Soak the oats in milk for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 400F and spray the muffin pan (I used cups.. but wish I hadn't.)
Combine the oat mixture with applesauce and egg whites, and mix until combined.
In a separate bow, measure and whisk the dry ingredients together.
Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Too much, and they'll be tough.
Spoon into pan and top with cinnamon and sugar.
Bake for 20-25 mins or until done
Remove from pan, cool, and enjoy.

It was supposed to make 12 (although I only got 11) and they're about 95 calories per muffin.