Foods I LOVE to Make & Bake, But Especially Eat

So I’m a little bit obsessed with cooking and trying new recipes lately. Actually, I've been like this ever since my husband I got married almost nine years ago. These are some of the REALLY good ones I’ve come across recently, and although not at all healthy, by all means, ENJOY!!

Oreo Crunch Cupcakes

http://www.littleinspiration.com/2011/07/oreo-crunch-cupcakes.html

Some people thought it was too much cookie and so I would take one side of the cookie off and use that in the batter.  I loved the taste of the frosting, but it was really flat.  I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my baking. :o)

German Chocolate Monkey Bread

http://www.heatherchristo.com/cooks/2012/02/17/german-chocolate-monkey-bread/

The only adjustment I would make to this is mix everything in together instead of layering.  Heaven!

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pan-roasted-chicken-lemon-garlic-green-beans-10000000780291/index.html

Definitely follow the comments and cut back on the lemon, unless you like a lot of lemon.

Dried Strawberries

http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/recipes/dried-strawberries-ruscalleda/

Oddly addictive.  

Honey Lime Tilapia

http://www.onelovelylife.com/?p=3118

If you like tilapia, divine.

Nachos... Yum :)

http://www.pamperedchef.com/recipe_search/recipe.jsp?id=75015

I love nachos and this is a light version

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

http://www.sassyradish.com/2009/10/sweet-potato-gnocchi/

First time I ever made gnocchi and oh there were good.

Spicy Kabocha Soup

http://naturalnoshing.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/spicy-kabocha-soup/

My new favorite soup.

Eggplant Focaccia

http://www.marthastewart.com/317126/eggplant-focaccia

One of my favorite eggplant recipes.

Peanut Butter Cups

http://www.sweetestkitchen.com/2009/04/homemade-peanut-butter-cups/#.Twsg-WBqOt8

These put Reese’s to shame.  If you aren’t a fan of chocolate & peanut butter... make this... it’s worth trying one.  I recommend making them in the mini-muffin tins instead of the standard size because they are so rich.

Avocado Chicken Parmigiana

http://ellenaguan.blogspot.com/2011/11/avocado-chicken-parmigiana.html

Simply delish!

Crispy Parmesan Asparagus

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/03/crispy-parmesan-asparagus-sticks/

Better than bacon-wrapped asparagus.

Sweet Potato Chips

http://www.marthastewart.com/317420/baked-sweet-potato-chips

This one was a huge hit on pinterest.  My husband is currently obsessed and could eat them every single day.

Man Pleasing Chicken

http://www.wittyinthecity.com/2011/08/man-pleasing-chicken/

Gotta love the name.

Meal Planner

I know, I know. Neither papercrafting or jewellery today. But as I was pondering what to write about I ALSO happened to be working on my meal plan/grocery list, and I realized, DUH, I had something to share. :-) I mean, when I saw the idea for the first time I thought it was GREAT, so hopefully someone out there will agree with me and find it useful, too!

I have some friends who are far too artistic and one day saw a post on Facebook from their company, Ollibird, about a meal planner. Well, I happen to have a degree in kinesiology and am studying to be a bona fide health care professional, so I LOVE all things health-related, and to me, meal planning fits in that category.

So I clicked on their link to see what was up.

Sheer genius. I LOVE it. And then I started surfing around and found other design options for the same thing - a beautifully designed weekly menu planner you print out and pop into a frame, then write on with an erasable marker.

I can't tell you how much I love these, and how WONDERFULLY the fun, bright colours will go in my kitchen!!

Buuuut...even at a measly $10, with neither my hubs or I working right now (BOO to layoffs!), I couldn't justify spending the money, even though I was looking at this for myself and a friend as a Christmas present. (I TOTALLY will purchase one as soon as I have a job - I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colours of the 'bright & mod' planner! SO FUN!)

So...I made my own!

It's not NEARLY as fun and fancy - I don't have any of the mad skillz the Ollibird group do, but I can click and drag shapes in Google Docs like a superstar; here's what I came up with:

I then bustled my butt over to WalMart, where I found some fabulous black frames for like, a buck, and grabbed a black "lumocolor" marker (you know the kinds your profs use on overheads in lectures?).

Voila!

I currently have two weeks' dinners planned out on it - necessary when relying on outside assistance for groceries, OY! - and LOVE that each day instead of trying to rack my brain to answer "what should I make for dinner" all I have to do is glance over at my meal planner and get started. It's wonderful!

Feel free to download my amateur version, above, but definitely look at the fun options Ollibird has to offer - they are only $10 (USD) and you can print them as many times as you like! AND they're way prettier than my perfectly adequate copy.

Happy Thursday, everyone, and get your meals organized! It's FABULOUS!

Not Christmas-ey...but awesome! Introducing....Banoffee Pie!

My sister and I love to get together for a weekend and try new recipes. This one we tried recently and I had to spread the word...it was AWESOME! (and so easy to do!)

Banoffee Pie

Total Time: 4 hr 15 min

Ingredients:

• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• Pinch salt
• 4 bananas, sliced
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream

In a saucepan, cover an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk with water. Let it simmer for 3 hours, adding water as needed to keep the can submerged in the water.

Set your oven to 375 F.
Mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, then cool completely and refrigerate until ready to assemble the pie.
Remove the condensed milk from heat and let cool enough to be able to remove the can from the water. Let cool another 10 to 15 minutes before opening the now dark and creamy toffee.
Thinly slice the bananas (1/4-inch) on the bias. Evenly arrange 1 layer of bananas over the cooled crust. Pour the toffee over the top and spread evenly. Put another layer of bananas on top of the toffee. Whip 2 cups of cream, in a large bowl, until soft peaks form and spoon it on top of the bananas, spreading it out to make an even layer.
Refrigerate the pie for at least 1 hour before serving.

Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

Pão de mel (Honey Bread)

This is one of my mother in law amazing recipes, and we made this for my wedding, everybody loved, so I hope you guys enjoy this Brazilian treat!!!

2 1/4 cups brown sugar

2 cups of water

  
Pass through a sieve to form a syrup. After that, put together:

4 ½ cup of all purpose flour
4 eggs 
 3 tbsp of cocoa
1 tbsp  of ground cloves
4 tbsp of cinnamon
1 cup of honey
1 cup of milk
1 tbsp of baking powder
1 tbsp of baking soda

Mix everything in a bowl, the dough will be kind of liquid and should be very smooth. Put in pans(for cakes, muffins…) ina 350 F heated oven. Its super fast, so in about 10 minutes you have to check the oven.

 You can cover with melted chocolate and put the “dulce de leche” filling. Enjoy!!

Recipe: Apple Spice Cake with Caramel Sauce

Happy Halloween!!!

I know.
Right?
The title AND the picture alone is enough to leave you drooling.
I LOVE this cake.
I have no idea where the recipe came from, just that my Grandmother and Mom have been making it for as long as I can remember.

....and let's use up all those good apples that you got on sale at the store!

This is an insanely simple desert to make --- and I am all about simplicity when it comes to baking.
But I am also about the *wow* factor too.
You'll come to learn soon enough; that I love to create food that is simple, yet has a great effect in taste as well as beauty.

Ingredients for cake:

     1 cup granulated sugar                                                                     1 1/2 cups flour
     1/2 cup butter at room temperature (1 stick)                                    1 tsp baking soda
     2 eggs                                                                                             1/2 tsp cinnamon
     3 large apples; peeled & diced (use a potato peeler)                        1/2 tsp nutmeg
     1/2 cup chopped nuts (your choice--& totally optional) 

Directions for cake:

~preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x9 pan.
~Cream together the sugar, butter and eggs.
~Sift the dry ingredients together and add to the sugar mixture.
(HINT: the dough will be really thick, almost like a cookie dough -- that's ok)
~Stir the diced apples in -- by hand -- add the nuts (if you so choose) and put in your pan.
~Bake for about 45 minutes. -- Just watch it, you'll know when it is done: the center won't be wobbly and it will be nice and brown (tan is not done).

Caramel Sauce ingredients:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature (1 stick)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup whipping cream, non-whipped (1/2 pint)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tblsp flour

Directions for Sauce:

~ Mix the flour and granulated sugar in a small bowl.
~Put the rest of the ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat.
~When the butter and brown sugar are melted add the flour/sugar mix and whisk until clear. -- You're basicly warming up all the ingredients and letting the flour do its binding job. It won't be super-thick, but it will look like caramel sauce.

You can serve the cake warm or room temperature --- its good no matter what!
You can also double this recipe and make it to fit in a 9x13 pan. Just adjust the time to cook it.
When I made this, this past week, we had leftover sauce --so I dipped some chopped up apples and had myself a snack. YUM!

Enjoy a new fall recipe!

If you would like to print off a copy of this recipe just click HERE.