Yogurt

If there are three things I hate more than anything to use in cooking, its...

Mayo

Cream Cheese

Sour Cream

Sometimes there's no beating around the bush and you just have to make cream cheese frosting, but I will avoid these 3 nasty ingredients at all costs! I hate the taste, the texture, and most of all... the fat! I am so grossed out when people put slabs of cream cheese on their bagels, huge dollaps of sour cream on their tacos, or worse... several tablespoons of mayo on their sandwich or in potato salads (mayo really does make me gag). 

Normally, whenever I see any of these 3 in a recipe, I will usually turn away and never even think about modifying it! The though of any of these being in something just makes the whole thing unappetizing! 

But then... I started using this:

Greek Yogurt... my new best friend. I can make ranch dressing out of this and not feel guilty. I can bake with it instead of using sour cream to make it moist. I can actually enjoy food without thinking about the slimy fat that could be roaming around in my body (sorry for that). Look for new recipes soon that contain Greek yogurt. I am all about being healthy (except when it comes to chocolate)!

Happy Cinco!

I am in LOVE with Cinco de Mayo! Why? I'm not sure, but I really do get excited every year! I love the excuse of being able to get discounted Mexican food all day long, spend time with friends, and have a good time! In fact, tonight I am going to a fiesta and was in charge of bringing a couple items. I made Black Beans and Rice and Tres Leches. I've posted the Tres Leches recipe before right here. Here's the recipe for the Black Beans and Rice

Lime Black Beans and Rice

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 finely chopped yellow onion

2 tsp cumin

2 tbsp thyme

2 tsp paprika

1 1/2c white rice

3 c chicken broth

1 can black beans

juice of 1 lime
salt to taste

chopped cilantro, for garnish

Heat a medium pot over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and chopped onion. Saute 3 minutes, then season with 2 teaspoons cumin, thyme, and paprika. Pour in chicken broth and raise heat to bring to a boil. Add rice and lower heat to simmer when boil resumes. Cover pot tightly. After 12 minutes, stir in black beans and lime juice. Replace cover. Cook another 15 minutes. Turn off rice and beans, season with salt and stir to combine then let stand until ready to serve. Sprinkle cilantro as a garnish.

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last year, I made a post about Chocolate Chip cookies. It was the ultimate no-fail cookie recipe. It was perfect and I then began to experiment. I created instead, Cinnamon Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies! Yum! These are the perfect blend of flavors and I am obsessed! I need to be careful not to consume too many. I lost 15 lbs in the last year and I'd like to keep it that way. So, these will be made to give out, not for me to consume! Trust me, this is a HUGE sacrifice! But if you're willing to just dive in... be my guest!

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 c rolled oats, ground

1 c flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon, plus more for dusting

1/4 c butter, softened

1/4 c oil

1/2 c sugar

1/3 c brown sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c peanut butter, creamy

1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.

Grind oats in a blender or food processor. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add oil, granulated sugar, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and peanut butter; beat until smooth and creamy. With the mixer running, add the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls, at least 1 inch apart, onto the prepared baking sheets. Dust with cinnamon. Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until firm around the edges and golden on top, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Balsamic Strawberry Crumble

This Sunday I was inspired by the beautiful weather to create a nice yummy treat. I moved into a new apartment and had fun making a new treat in a new place with new roommates. Since I hadn't gone grocery shopping yet, all I had was strawberries. This was the end result:

Balsamic Strawberry Crumble

Balsamic Strawberries

3 c of strawberries, sliced

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp cardamom

Heat balsamic vinegar over med. heat. Stir in brown sugar and cardamom. Simmer for 2 minutes on low. Stir in strawberries so they are well coated. Remove from heat after 1 minute.

Scoop into individual ramekins.

Crumble

1/2 c oats

1/2 c flour

1/2 c brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. cardamom

1/4 c (1/2 stick) butter

Beat all ingredients and sprinkle over strawberry mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

*eat with a scoop of ice cream or a little bit of whipped cream

Sugar Cookie Cupcakes

**This post does contain reviews!!!!

Last night, I messed up big time! I tried to make coffee cake (p.s. coffee cake doesn't have coffee in it, in case you didn't know) and I accidentally read the recipe wrong. In my efforts to fix it, I failed miserably and instead came out with something even BETTER! I made Sugar Cookie Cupcakes! Don't get it? I'll explain

Light and fluffy cupcake + taste of a sugar cookie = Sugar Cookie Cupcake

Sugar Cookie Cupcakes

Ingredients

2 sticks of butter

3 c sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 1/3 c soy milk (or regular milk is fine)

2 tsp vanilla

3 c flour

3 tsp baking powder

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin pan or use muffin liners. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, and salt until well mixed. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing after each cup. Mix in baking powder.

Pour 1/4 cup of the mixture into each muffin cup. Bake for 25 min. Let cool for 10 minutes. Frost with sugar cookie icing (recipe below)

Sugar Cookie Icing

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp milk

2 c powdered sugar

Mix butter and milk. Mix in powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time until thoroughly mixed.

*Frost quickly because it will harden fast.

Reviews:

(Quinn: They're good!)

(Dave: Let me tell you about these cupcakes, right here. You can never stop at just one! MmMm Good!)

(Ben: Crispy exterior that when you bite into it, you experience the soft texture of the interior. It tasted like a sugar cookie, but felt as light and fluffy as a cupcake)

(Even the boss man liked it!)

Tres Leches

Over the weekend I made Tres Leches Cake. It is a sponge cake soaked in 3 kinds of milk - heavy cream, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. It was AMAZING! It was my first time ever making it and I will make it a billion times more! I revised the recipe from the Pioneer Woman

Tres Leches Cake

1 cup All-purpose Flour
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
5 whole Eggs
1 cup Sugar, Divided
1 teaspoon Vanilla
⅓ cups Milk
1 can Evaporated Milk
1 can Sweetened, Condensed Milk
¼ cups Heavy Cream

Icing:
1 1/2 c Heavy Cream, For Whipping
3 Tablespoons Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 (9-inch) cake pans liberally until coated. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Separate eggs. Beat egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar on high speed until yolks are pale yellow. Stir in milk and vanilla. Pour egg yolk mixture over the flour mixture and stir very gently until combined.

Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form. With the mixer on, pour in remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry. Fold egg white mixture into the batter very gently until just combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread to even out the surface. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn cake out onto a rimmed platter and allow to cool.

Combine condensed milk, evaporated milk, and heavy cream in a small pitcher. When cake is cool, pierce the surface with a fork several times. Slowly drizzle all but about 1 cup of the milk mixture—try to get as much around the edges of the cake as you can. Allow the cake to absorb the milk mixture for 30 minutes. To ice the cake, whip 1 pint heavy cream with 3 tablespoons of sugar until thick and spreadable. Spread over the surface of the cake. Cut into slices and serve.

Banoffee Pie

Before I left to go home for the holidays, I made my roommate her favorite dessert. Here's what you need to understand... I don't like making desserts I've never made before. It scares the heck out me. I can modify and I can make things up, but to make something I am not the least bit familiar with is not my forte.

Now, there are only two reasons why I decided to rise up to the challenge. #1 Naomi was having a hard week and this was her favorite dessert on the planet. #2 I love that girl to death. So given those two reasons, that's all I can think of what could have possessed me to take on such a task.

Granted, the recipe wasn't all that bad to make, in fact it was fairly easy. It's the fact that 1. I've never made it and 2. she's never made it, that I had no idea how it was supposed to turn out! According to Naomi, it was yummy. I think ok with that.

*P.S. it takes a a little while to make this so I'd recommend watching a movie while this bakes... like The Proposal starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds (it's a favorite of mine)

Banoffee Pie (Banana + Toffee)

1 (9 in.) graham cracker crust pie dish

2 (14 oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk

3 large bananas

1 1/2 c whipping cream

1/3 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Toffee filling:

Pour sweetened condensed milk into 9x12 baking dish. Cover with foil and place into larger poaching pan. Fill poaching pan with water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the baking pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hrs (I told you it was long...better watch The Proposal like I suggested.)

Once filling is cooled, spread half of the filling in the graham cracker pie dish. Cut bananas into thin slices and distribute evenly over the filling. Spread remaining filling over the bananas.

Whipped Cream:

Whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff and spread over the pie. Cool in the refrigerator for 1 hr or until ready to serve.

** Keep in mind the whipped cream takes a few minutes to be fully whipped so keep that beater spinning!

*** This is probably something that is best to make the night before you serve it. Let me tell you it tastes HEAVENLY when you wait for it and it's nice and chilled and... ok I'll stop...

Cranberry Crumble

Over the holidays, I was kind of obsessed with Cranberries. I was making things up left and right. This one I made right after Christmas and I was very surprised at how yummy it turned out to be. Cranberries can be quite scary to cook with, in my opinion. Either they're too tart or too sweet. This recipe turned out just how I wanted it...a mix of both! With my blackberry crumble recipe, I was inspired to make this yummy Cranberry Crumble.

** I would've taken a picture of it except for the fact that we ate it too quickly... whoops!

Cranberry Crumble

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c quick cooking oats
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c flour
1/4 c butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 c water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl combine cranberries and sugar. Allow to sit for several minutes. Combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour until well mixed. Cut in butter and mix until crumbly. Spoon cranberries into a buttered 8x8 baking dish. Pour water over cranberries. Sprinkle crumble mixture over the cranberries and bake for 45 minutes. Serve with ice cream.

Words of Inspiration...

"Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it."

~Julia Child

Chocolate Cupcakes

When there are 3 birthdays in one weekend, what do you do? You make cupcakes! And then you evenly distribute them amongst all 3 birthday friends! I tried to modify this and make it as healthy as I can. Hope you enjoy!

Fluffy Chocolate Cupcakes

3/4 c (1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter)

2 1/4 c flour

1 c cocoa powder, unsweetened

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 c firmly packed light brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

4 large eggs

1 1/2 c yogurt (regular or chocolate flavored!)

Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Grease 12 cup muffin pan, dust with flour, and tap out the excess.

Sift 2 1/4 c flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In another large bowl, beat 3/4 c butter on med. speed until creamy. Add brown sugar and continue beating for 1 min. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Mixture will look slightly grainy. Beat in sour cream, then add flour mixture in 3 batches. Mixture will be thick. Divide evenly and pour batter in muffin tins. May take a couple batches.

Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes. Frost when cooled completely.