Hmm what to make, what to make?

This week is another slow week for me thankfully so I had the time to make something yummy again for dinner.  Tonight I wanted something quick, easy, and used things that I already had.  Like I've said before, I had bought way too much food at the grocery store so I've been trying to use it all up before I go and buy more.  So I stumbled upon a recipe that fit all the criteria on, what else, My Recipes.  This recipe was altered though of course because when do I ever follow the recipe perfectly.  The original recipe that gave me inspiration was for a vegetable couscous salad but I had some ground turkey that I had frozen so I wanted to add that to the mix as well.  Here is what I ended up using for my Turkey and Vegetable Couscous salad...

1/3 package of ground turkey

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp italian seasoning

1/2 tsp basil

1/4 cup couscous

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup red pepper, chopped

1/4 cup white onion, chopped

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced

1/2 cup zucchini and squash, sliced

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

First thing I did was defrost the ground turkey because I had frozen it.  I put it in the fridge all day to help defrost it over the course of the day but it wasn't totally defrosted when I took it out.  I put it in a microwave safe dish in the microwave for 2 minutes on timed defrost and that worked perfectly.  I then added the garlic, italian seasoning, and basil to the ground turkey and mixed it through with my hands.  I then put the turkey in a pan with cooking oil on the stover over medium high heat.  Here's a peak of it cooking...

Doesn't look very appetizing I know

While the turkey was cooking, I brought 1/2 cup water to a boil to cook the couscous in.  I then added the couscous and reduced the heat to low.  Also while all this was going on, I was broiling the zucchini and squash in the oven on high.  I have to admit, I kinda forgot about them so they got a little charred but they were still good to me because I like things a little crispy haha.  Anyway, the turkey was finally done after about 10 minutes so I took it off and put it on a paper towel on a plate to drain all the juices off it.  I chopped up the red bell pepper, onion, and cherry tomatoes and set them aside to add later.  Here are all the ingredients while waiting for the couscous to finish...

Y'all are going to think I'm ridiculous but again while all this was happening, I added the water, balsamic vinegar, and extra-virgin olive oil to a bowl and whisked them all together.  Once the couscous was finally finished cooking, I added it to the bowl with the dressing.  All the veggies and 1/2 cup of the cooked turkey were then added to the bowl and mixed all together.  I'll probably use the rest of the cooked turkey in something else like a salad or wrap for lunch but I just didn't need it all for the couscous.

Now it looks good!

I then added around 1 cup of the couscous salad to about 1 cup of chopped romaine lettuce to make it a salad.  I mixed it all together, added some pepper, and then sat down and finally ate my meal.  It was really good!  I'm glad I added it to the lettuce because that soaked up some of the dressing and added a little crunch.  I did use the full amount of dressing as called for in the original My Recipes recipe but it was wayyyy too much.  I had to pour some of it out because originally I was going to save some of it but I honestly forgot to haha.  You don't have to add the romaine lettuce by any means because I think it would be good by itself but I had it kicking around so I figured why not.  I would definitely recommend making this recipe because it's really quick and easy which are 2 words that are essential for a college cook.  I do want to make the vegetable couscous recipe for some lunches sometime so hopefully I'll be able to make it soon!  O and I did have leftovers but not nearly as much as I put in the salad so may use 3/4 cup of the couscous salad instead of a full cup if you want even leftovers!

Final product :)

Well That Didn't Make a Mess or Anything

This weekend is another one of my friends birthdays and y'all know what that means...baking!  I tried to ask her what she wanted but couldn't get a hold of her so I started doing some research for something yummy.  I probably spent a good 2 hours on Pinterest, which I would recommend to anyone to get one but I have to warn you it will take over you life...no really it will.  Anyway, I got kind of overwhelmed with so many choices so I tried to narrow it down.  I finally narrowed it down to 3 but for some reason I have been wanting to make a red velvet something so I decided on red velvet cake balls.  I've never made cake balls either so I can now officially check that off my baking list.  I found the recipe from google off of a website called Bakerella but I tweaked it a little bit as always.  Here is the recipe that I used...

1 box red velvet cake mix

1 batch of low-fat cream cheese frosting

1 package of white chocolate bark (can either use regular or white)

Wax paper

First thing that I did was bake the cake according the the directions on the box.  I used a 13 x 9 pan because that's what the Bakerella recipe called for.  The batter looked like straight blood though.  Take a look...

Ew.

The batter actually stained our sink red too but I washed it out thankfully.  I cooked the cake for about 35 minutes and took it out to cool.  Meanwhile, I made the cream cheese frosting which called for...

1 8 oz. block reduced-fat cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

I added all the ingredients for the icing in a bowl and blended them with our hand blender until fully combined.  Once the cake finally cooled, I cut it into smaller sections, crumbled it up, and added it to the bowl with the frosting because that's the only big bowl we have.  This is where it got SUPER messy.  I was mixing the cake and frosting by hand because I figured that would be the easiest thing to do.  My hands have never been so messy and red in my life.  I mixed it all together thoroughly and started to form them into small balls.  This was a bit difficult and also very messy because I'm not sure if there was enough cream cheese frosting or not.  Some of the cake would like flake off so I just did the best I could to make them stick together and I just went with it.  I put the balls in 2 plastic containers and put them in the fridge overnight to cool.  You don't have to leave them in the fridge overnight but it was late and I knew that I wouldn't have time to do the chocolate coating so I just figured leave them there all night.  Here's what they looked like pre-chocolate coating...

I honestly can't tell y'all how many it made because it really depends on how big you make them.  I would say that it made over 30 at least but again it just depends because some were bigger than others.  Anyway, the next day I added the final touch...the chocolate coating.  I broke the package of chocolate bark in half and placed half of it in a microwave safe bowl.  I microwaved it for about a minute but it was nearly melted enough so I put it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds.  It was melting better but still not fully melted so I microwaved it again for two 15 second intervals and that did the trick.  I had to work fast though once the chocolate was melted because once the chocolate gets cool it gets very hard.

The recipe I went off of said to use a spoon to dip it in and out of the chocolate but I honestly ended up using my hands most of the time.  Honestly there is no good way to make them look pretty and covered in chocolate but I figured as long as they taste good, who cares?  Once I ran out of melted chocolate, I repeated the microwaving process again and continued to cover the other cake balls in chocolate.  Sadly, I ran out of chocolate though.  I'd say about 2/3 of the cake balls got the chocolate coating so next time, I will buy another package of the chocolate.  I tried to be inventive and melt some remaining white chocolate chips that I had on hand but it was kind of a fail in that they didn't melt very easily or stick to the cake balls very well...o well live and learn I guess haha.  Now, time to have a taste and they were great!  The birthday girl, my roommates, and my family all loved them so this is definitely a crowd pleasing recipe!  It is a little labor intensive I must say but if you're willing to put in the time and effort, they are definitely well worth it!

Finished product YUM.

Best Thing I've Made So Far Hands Down

Today was another really cold day (and blustery too might I add) so I wanted to make something that was warm again.  I had a lot of fresh food on hand so I wanted to cook something that used it before it went bad.  I also had opened a can of tomato sauce for the chili so I wanted to use that up as well before it went bad.  And what does tomato sauce always go in...a pasta or italian dish.  The original dish that I wanted to make was called Baked Eggplant with Mushroom-and-Tomato Sauce which hopefully someday I will make but sadly it didn't happen tonight.  I was planning on using zucchini instead of eggplant because I like it better and it was cheaper so I started followed the recipe as it read.  Lesson that I learned tonight...I always read the ENTIRE recipe.  As I was broiling the zucchini, I looked down further and saw that this thing was supposed to bake for an hour.  Now normally I would have been fine with this but considering that I was starving long before I started cooking, there was no way I could wait an hour.

So thinking quickly on my feet, I decided to make a pasta...best decision I have made.  This was honestly the best thing that I've made so far in my opinion.  I don't know why I liked it so much but I was so incredibly satisfied and proud eating my pasta when I was done.  I did kind of a hybrid recipe with the help of my mom so here are the list of ingredients that I used...

1 large zucchini, sliced

cooking spray

1 cup white mushrooms

1 + 1/2 cup fresh spinach

1/2 cup white onion, chopped

1 medium Roma tomato

1/2 cup cooked Rotini pasta

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 tsp canned pesto

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

So since I was originally following the other recipe at first, I set my broiler to high and placed the sliced zucchini on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  I roasted the zucchini for about 4 minutes on each side.  While the zucchini was roasting, I added the mushrooms, onions, Italian seasoning, salt, and garlic to a saute pan over medium high heat.  I was also cooking the spinach on another pan over medium high heat as well.  The mushroom mixture cooked for about 10 minutes and then I decided to make the pasta.  So since I needed to make the sauce, I added the tomato sauce to the pan and mixed them all together.  Also while they were blending flavors together, I began to boil water for the rotini to cook.  Once it boiled (took about 10 minutes), I added the pasta and cooked it for about 9.

Sauce pre-pasta

Now back to the sauce.  I added the zucchini and spinach to the sauce at this point as well as the pesto.  I think the pesto was what made it so good even though it was only a little quantity.  I'm definitely going to try making sauces that mix marinara and pesto from now one but anyway.  I kept stirring the sauce while the pasta was cooking but the liquid was starting to evaporate so I took the pan off the heat for a little bit until about the last minute of the past cooking.  When the pasta was done, I drained it in the sink and added it to the pan.  I mixed it all together and added about 2 handfuls of part-skim mozzarella cheese to the pan as well.  You don't have to do this but a little cheese can't hurt right?  The cheese melted into the dish and it was finally time to eat...like an hour later.

With the pasta

Well worth all the time and effort though!  It was amazing and I was really happy with myself.  I definitely enjoyed eating it...the cleanup afterward not so much though haha.  After cooking 4 nights this week, I've come to realize how much time and effort really goes into cooking a good meal.  It's a lot and it's draining.  I love cooking but this week has kinda taken it out of me which is kinda sad considering that I haven't made things that are super intense.  I think it's the cleaning that burns me out the most though honestly haha.  I'll have to get used to that though sadly.  Well I would 100% say make this dish because it's amazing and I loved it and I think y'all would too!

All my hard work in one bowl

Cold Weather = Chili

The weather decided to change its mind on us again today but this time it decided that it wanted to monsoon and get super cold.  I'm all about the fall weather but when you go from like 80 to 50 the next day I'm not so much of a fan.  But since it was cold outside today it was the perfect weather for what I've been wanting to make all week...turkey chili!  I was actually happy to see it was colder because chili is the best on a cold night.  So since the weather permitted I made my turkey chili tonight.  I didn't really have a recipe to go off because I was inspired by the turkey chili that my mom makes because it is seriously one of my favorite meals that she cooks.  I asked her what she put in it and altered it a little bit to my liking because my parents have a little bit different taste pallet than I do.  

I had already cooked the ground turkey a week ago and froze it.  At the time, I wasn't sure what I was going to be using it for so I wanted to season it to where I could use it for multiple things.  Originally I thought I could use it for ziti or for chili.  I had stumbled across another really good recipe for ground chicken in lettuce wraps so I figured I could use the same seasonings for ground turkey.  Here is the recipe for the chicken lettuce cups that I based my seasonings off of.  This is the actual recipe that I used however...

1/3 package ground turkey 

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp garlic

1/3 tsp parsley flakes

1/4 tsp oregano

I added the ground turkey and spices in a bowl and mixed then together.  I then put the turkey in a pan on the stove over medium high heat.  I cooked it for about 10-15 minutes just to make sure that it was thoroughly cooked.  Here's the end result...doesn't look to appetizing but it was great in my chili!

Ok now back to the chili.  Like I said, I didn't really have a recipe to follow because I just went off what my mom has made so here is what I ended up using in my turkey chili...

1 cup canned corn drained

1 cup black beans, drained

1 cup frozen pepper blend

1/3 pack ground turkey, previously cooked

1 15 oz can white kidney beans, drained

1 can diced tomatoes no salt added

2 green onions, chopped

¼ cup tomato sauce

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cilantro

1 ½ tsp garlic

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp salt

First thing I did was thaw the frozen pepper blend in a microwave safe dish in the microwave for 1 minute.  After thawing them, I added them to a pan over medium high heat on the stove and began to cook them.  While the peppers were cooking, I added the corn, black beans, white beans, diced tomatoes, and frozen ground turkey to a pot.  I turned the burner to medium high heat and stirred them altogether so that their flavors could begin to mix together.  

Pot pre-mixing

There didn't look like there was enough liquid in the pan so I added the tomato sauce to help it have more liquid.  The peppers finished cooking after about 5-7 minutes so I just added them straight to the pot when they were done.  I chopped up the green onions and added those to the pot as well.  I then began to add the spices which was quite interesting and scary for me.  I'm not really a spicy person so I wasn't sure how much of each spice would be too much.  I figured to start slow and I could always add more after if I needed it.  I added more garlic than the rest of the spices because I love garlic and I felt like it needed it.  I brought the chili to a boil and then turned it down to low and covered it.  I let it simmer for about 20 minutes so that all the different flavors could mesh together.  I did to taste testing here and there and added a little more pepper and garlic but it's really up to you as to how much and which spices you use.  My spice ratio actually turned out perfectly for me so I was happy!  I cooked some fresh spinach for a little side dish and then finally filled my bowl with my chili and I was ready to eat.  It was SO good and perfect for today.  

Post-mixing

I was happy with the way it tasted because it wasn't too spicy but it did have a little kick.  I may try to add some different spices next time and maybe add more peppers or use ground chicken but overall for my first try I was definitely pleased.  So if its a cold night and you want something yummy and easy to warm you up, chili is definitely the way to go!

Final product...YUM

This Salsa is Addicting and It's a Problem

So this week since I finally have some down time with school and my life, I figured it would be a great time to hit the kitchen and try to cook every night this week.  I tried to plan all my meals ahead when I went to the grocery store on Sunday so I bought things that I could use for multiple recipes.  The main recipe that was inspiring all the others is Turkey chili, which is one of my all-time favorite things to eat in the world, and I still have yet to make it.  It will happen this week thought because I've already opened half the stuff that I'm going to use in it.  Anyway, since I'm not planning on making a huge pot of chili, I had to use half of the cans of black beans and corn that will eventually go in it.  I needed to come up with another recipe using these so that they wouldn't go to waste.  The recipe that won the prize was a black bean and corn salsa and let me tell you it was a very good winner.  My roommate had made a really good black bean and corn salsa a couple weeks ago so I figured that it would be a good thing to make because I could use it for my lunches as well.  I'm learning that since I'm only cooking for one now that I have to make things that are good for other recipes and meals because you can't waste anything these days.

So since I decided on a salsa, I went to the internet to try to find one.  I wanted to make homemade regular salsa as well so I tried to find a recipe that incorporated both elements.  I found a pretty good one on http://www.myrecipes.com/ which is always my go to for recipes but I honestly didn't really end up using it.  Here's the link to the recipe that did guide me a little but I honestly did my own thing http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/black-bean-salsa-10000001097036/  For the first time, I just kinda guessed on measurements and ingredients because everything I had wasn't in one recipe.  I have to say, it was really fun to experiment though so I think I'm going to try to do that more often!  Here is the recipe that I came to after a couple tastings and mixings...

5/8 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed

5/8 cup canned corn, drained and rinsed

1 small Roma tomato

1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped

1/4 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped

3 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp cilantro

1/8 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp salt

I know that the 5/8 cup is a really random measurement but I started out with 1/2 of each and it wasn't enough.  So I just added 1/4 cup of a combination of both black beans and corn hence the 1/8 cup.  First thing that I did was add the black beans and corn into a bowl.  I then chopped the red onion, green pepper, and red pepper and added them to the bowl.  I then added 2 tbsp of lime juice and 1/2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil but it wasn't enough so I added another tbsp of lime juice and another 1/2 tbsp of oil.  I then added all the spices and mixed it all together.  It was pretty good after mixing it but the key to this recipe is to let it sit for a little bit and let the flavors mix together.  After putting it in the fridge for like 15 minutes it was much better and more flavorful.  Once the flavors mixed together, I couldn't stop eating it.  It was great with tortilla chips  or even other veggies but I ended up using it as the center of the veggie quesadilla that I made for dinner last night...it was a really good quesadilla might I add but you can read about that in my post about my next 2 dinners.

One Salsa, Two Meals...My Kind of Recipe

In case you didn't read my previous blog, this week I've been trying to be in the kitchen as much as possible since I actually have the time.  Yesterday I made a really good black bean and corn salsa and I wanted to use it in a recipe for a dinner.  One of my favorite things to eat black beans and corn with it Mexican food and the thing that I love to make at home that's Mexican is quesadillas.  The quesadillas at restaurants are always super heavy and honestly not that good for you so I love to be able to make them my own way at home.  I have to admit that I have made quesadillas before but never like this.  I normally make chicken quesadillas but this time I decided to go all veggie.  Here's what I used in my veggie quesadilla...

1 wheat 10" tortilla

1/4 cup frozen pepper blend

1/4 cup spinach

1/4 tsp fajita seasoning

1/3 cup black bean and corn salsa

1/4 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

Cooking spray

The first thing that I did was heat up the frozen peppers in the microwave for about 30 seconds to decrease stove-top cook time.  I then cooked the peppers in a pan over medium high heat for about 10 minutes.  I added the spinach to the pan about 6 minutes in and I added the fajita seasoning to the pan as well.  Once the veggies were cooked, I took them off and set them aside.  I then coated a large pan with cooking spray and placed the tortilla in the pan.  I put about half of the cheese on the bottom and then proceeded to add the peppers, spinach, and black bean and corn salsa.  I then added the rest of the cheese to the top and folded the other half of the tortilla over the veggies.  Here's what it looked like pre-folding...

Veggiesss

I then cooked it on that side for about 5 minutes and then flipped it.  I cooked it on the other side for about 5 minutes as well and then flipped it back for another 2 minutes to make it nice and crispy.  After that, it was finally done and it was time to eat!  Here's a shot of the final product...

I cut it into 4 slices, got some sour cream, and enjoyed my veggie quesadilla.  I really liked having the spinach in the quesadilla and I had never done that before last night.  I will definitely be using this recipe again because it was very quick, easy, healthy and delicious!

So today since I had the salsa, I decided that I wanted to use it again for dinner since my plans for making my turkey chili feel through yet again due to lack of time.  One thing that I absolutely love to eat no matter lunch or dinner is salad so I decided to throw the salsa in a salad.  I also had grilled fajita chicken breast that my mom had bought me so I figured they would go perfectly together in a salad!  Here's the list of ingredients that made up my entree salad tonight...

Romaine lettuce

Tyson grilled fajita chicken strips

black bean and corn salsa

Roma tomato, chopped

Red bell pepper, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

Hidden Valley Fat Free Ranch dressing

I honestly have no idea of how much of each ingredient that I used but you can put as much or as little of each ingredient as you want.  It's up to you and what you have on hand and those are the ingredients that I happened to have!  I chopped and added them all together in a bowl.  I did heat up the chicken in the microwave for about 30 seconds which made it really yummy since it was nice and warm just like a fajita.  I then mixed it all together, added the dressing, and just like that there was my dinner.  It was fabulous if I do say so myself.  The ranch and salsa mixed very well together and I love the pop of flavor that the green onions added.  I've recently found that I really like green onions and I think I'm going to start using them more often.  Here's a shot of the final salad...

I have to say, it made me feel good to use the salsa more than once because I felt so economical and I even used it for part of my lunch today too!  I will definitely be making it again because 1. it's delicious 2. it's healthy (in moderation that is haha) 3. and it's super easy.  I would definitely say make any of the recipes because they were all winners to me!

College and Cooking Don't Always Go Hand in Hand Apparently

Well if y'all can't tell I've been very, very busy the last week.  And being busy doesn't really go with cooking sadly.  I've also been pretty sick which has contributed to my lack of activity in the kitchen because when you're sick, cooking is literally the last thing you want to do.  I'm finally feeling better though and school is calming down a bit so I will finally have time to get back into the kitchen!  It was also my birthday last week so I had all kinds of birthday activities that kept me busy.  I also took a road trip for a football game this past weekend so things have just been going non stop!  But like I said, this week is a lot less busy so I will finally have time to relax thank goodness!  I have to say though, I never thought it would be this hard to cook all the time.  I love cooking but until now I never realized how much time and effort it takes to actually do it.  Sometimes I just get lazy and don't want to and sadly frozen meals are my go to.  I feel like I've done pretty well though so hopefully I'll be able to keep it up!

I did make something in all the chaos of last week though and it is one of my favorite things to make.  I normally only make it around Christmas but I had all the ingredients for it so I just decided to go for it.  What might this recipe be?  Only one of the best holiday snacks ever invented...puppy chow!  I LOVE puppy chow and I had leftover chex cereal from a previous recipe so I thought that would be a good road trip snack.  I honestly wanted to get rid of the cereal and peanut butter that I had from another recipe as well so I figured I would kill 2 birds with one stone.

I set out to make the puppy chow at about 10:45 the night before we were leaving and I forgot how incredibly messy puppy chow is.  If you haven't made it before, be prepared to have your kitchen covered in powedered sugar and your hands drenched in peanut butter and chocolate (which I have to say wasn't all that bad haha).  I got the recipe off this link http://www.momswhothink.com/easy-recipes/puppy-chow-recipe.html because it was really simple and easy to follow.  I did use more chocolate chips so here's the ingredients that I actually used...

9 cups of Chex cereal

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup butter

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 + 1/4 cup chocolate chips

3 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup Reese's Pieces

I added more chocolate by my roommate's request and I had a huge bag of Reese's Pieces so I figured why not throw them in too?  First things first, I put the butter, peanut butter, and chocolate chips in a microwave safe dish.  I then microwaved them for a minute and stirred them together until thoroughly combined.  In another large mixing bowl, I had measured out the 9 cups of cereal.  I then proceeded to pour the chocolate mixture over the cereal and I began to mix it.  This is where is began to get messy.  The bowl was just big enough to fit all 9 cups so needless to say mixing meant overflowing onto the counter and the floor.  I kept it in tact as best as I could but sometimes you can only do so much.  I lost some of it but I just cleaned it up and kept going.  Here's what it looked like before the powdered sugar...

Mmm chocolate

After the chocolate was mixed evenly over the cereal, I filled a large ziplock bad with about 2/3 of the mixture.   I then added 2 cups of powdered sugar, sealed the bag, and began to shake it.  I shook it thoroughly so that all the cereal would get an even coating of powdered sugar.  After it looked evenly distributed, I had to take a little taste test...it was perfect and needless to say the "little" taste test turned into a big one.  I'm telling you, once you start eating this stuff you can't stop haha.  I put the rest of the cereal in another large ziplock bag and added 1 cup of powdered sugar to it since there was less and that worked perfectly.  We carried the puppy chow with us on the road and it was a hit!  It came in handy when we were stuck in traffic like 5 times so it was definitely worth the mess in the kitchen the night before.  It did take me like 30 minutes to clean up all the powdered sugar but it was well worth it!  

Mmmm Smells Like Fall!

So since I've been sick all week, I haven't had a lot of energy to cook or bake much.  I was feeling a little more energetic today so I decided that it would be a great day to bake.  I had a lot of homework to do and a lot of football to watch so why not bake something yummy at the same time?  My friends and I had been running across a lot of recipes with pumpkin in it recently and one of my friend's moms had made pumpkin muffins so I thought humm wouldn't pumpkin bread be good?  It's starting to really feel like fall now so I figured now was a better time than ever to get into the fall spirit!  When I was browsing over one of my new favorite websites http://www.skinnytaste.com/, I stumbled across a recipe for pumpkin bread that looked fairly simple, healthy, and delicious...all the essentials duh.  So I decided to go for it!  Not going to lie, I had to pull up the recipe on my phone at the grocery store because I forgot to write it down but I got everything I needed so it got the job done.  

After I returned home, I preheated the oven to the usual 350F and got to mixing.  Here is the recipe that I used which is basically the same one off of "Skinny Taste"...

1 1/2 cups of pumpkin puree

1 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking soda

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon  nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large egg whites

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

cooking spray

1/3 cup white chocolate chips (I added these but come on I add chocolate chips to everything)

So first things first was to grease a 9 x 5 in loaf pan with cooking spray.  After this, I began to combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, pumpkin spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt in a medium sized bowl.  I whisked them all together with a wire whisk but I don't think that you would necessarily have to use this.  I think anything to mix them together would be fine but that's just me.  After mixing all those together, I began to combine all the wet ingredients into a large bowl.  I mixed the oil, egg whites, pumpkin puree, and vanilla together.  Surprisingly I didn't have as much trouble with separating the egg whites this time so I was really happy that I actually got them both out on the first try!  I used a handheld mixer to beat all these ingredients together until well blended.  I scraped down the sides of the bowl as well to make sure that I got all the mix that I could.  I then slowly added the dry ingredients to the large bowl with the wet and mixed them all together until they were well combined and smooth.  Here's a little peak at the batter before pouring it into the pan...

Yum pumpkin

After everything was all mixed, it was time to be poured in the pan.  I had a little trouble at first holding the bowl and scraping it out but I didn't make a mess and it made it all into the pan safe and sound thankfully.  The chocolate chips were the final touch to the pumpkin bread and I basically just sprinkled them evenly on top.  I didn't measure out how much I used so the 1/3 of cup was an estimate because I just poured out of the bag.  Here's the loaf before it started to bake...

Into the oven the loaf went after this and I cooked it for about 50 minutes...a little too long sadly.  I first though that the recipe said 20 minutes so I pulled it out after that but it was clearly not done.  I went back and read again that I had read that it was supposed to cool for 20 minutes and cook for 50-55 minutes.  So I put the loaf back in the oven and set the timer for another 30 minutes.  Since I was busy doing other things like homework and watching football ha, I forgot to keep checking on it.  When the timer finally went off, I went to pull it out and the edges looked a little burnt...bummer.  I think if I hadn't of taken it out that 50 minutes would have been ok but I also am still not completely used to our oven so I don't know.  Since the loaf would cook more in the pan after taking it out, I took a knife around the rim so that I could try to maneuver it out when it had cooled a little.  Here's what I saw when it came out of the oven...

Looks a little crispy but it was really good I promise!

  I let it cook for about 10 minutes and then flipped it onto a plate and then to a wire rack to continue cooling.  Shockingly the loaf stayed in tact so it worked!  I cut a little piece off the end and it was actually really good!  The outside is a little burnt so I think I will cut off the edges but the inside was so creamy and delicious.  It's like fall on a plate I swear.  So moral of the story, if you like pumpkins and fall make this bread because it's very easy and delicious and it's like eating fall!  Enjoy!

Who Knew Homemade Would Be So Good

So Bronchitis and Costochloritis has taken over my life the past couple days aka I've been sick and not left my bed because of it.  Since I was home for lunch today, I actually was able to make my lunch...well as best as I could.  I decided to make a salad because I had so many fresh veggies on deck and it doesn't take much effort to make one.  It does however take me a long time to make one for some reason but it was worth it because I love salad.  Anyway, the other day my mom gave me the idea of making my own salad dressing and I figured today would be the perfect day to try since making salad dressing isn't very strenuous.  I didn't have a recipe to follow because my mom didn't remember where she read it but I did have all the ingredients so I just went with it.  This was the first time I've ever really made anything on my own and it was actually fun to experiment and try it out.  Here's what I ended up using...

1/2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar + couple extra shakes

3/4 tablespoon dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

It was as easy as 1,2,3!  I added them all to a bowl and whisked them together.  At first I only used 1/2 tablespoon of dijon but I couldn't really taste it so I added another 1/4 tablespoon.  I also added a little bit of water to make it more liquidy (if that's a word).  I tasted it and it was delicious!  Super easy and super good so I will definitely be making it again.  It went great on top of my salad that had...

Field Green salad mix (not the whole thing of course)

Green and red bell peppers

Cucumbers

Roma tomatoes

Carrots

Reduced-fat feta cheese

Mesquite turkey breast lunch meat

Here's what it ended up looking like...

Love me some salad as you can tell

Also since I was lying in bed all day yesterday and today, it was the perfect time to browse the internet and I stumbled upon my new favorite website.  It's a blog called Skinny Taste and I'm now officially obsessed.  Everything on her website looks amazing and I will probably start getting a lot of my recipes from there.  I spent probably an hour or 2 just browsing around it...no big deal haha.  Here is the link to her website so I hope y'all check it out and like it just as much as I do!  http://www.skinnytaste.com/  Enjoy and be thankful you're not sick like me!

Guranenteed You Won't Be Able to Stop Eating This

Last week I decided to make something that I've never made before...a salty snack mix.  I made it because I was going to a party where I had to bring something salty so I figured why not make a snack mix?  As y'all can probably tell, I'm all about the sweets so making something salty was definitely different for me.  Since it needed to be enough to feed a lot of people and I was short on time, a snack mix was the answer.  I hadn't found a recipe for this before but my mom had one so she sent it over to me.  She found the recipe off a blog called Mom's Mutterings and here is the link to her recipe http://momsmutterings.blogspot.com/2010/01/low-calorie-chex-mix-new-general-mills.html.  My recipe was a little different though because I used different ingredients.  The recipe that I made was...

3 cups corn chex cereal

3 cups reduced-fat Cheez-Its

3 cups pretzels

1 cup mixed, salted nuts

1/4 cup margarine

1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon water

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

First thing I did was find the biggest bowl we own.  I added the chex cereal, Cheez-Its, pretzels, and nuts into the big bowl and began to combine them.  At first I tried to use a spoon but it kept spilling everywhere so I just ended up mixing it all up with my hands.  Don't worry I washed them before I did this haha.  I preheated the oven to 250F and melted the margarine in the microwave for about a minute.  I then added the worcestershire sauce, water, salt, and garlic powder.  I do have to admit that I did have to start over because I used the wrong measure spoon but that's what learning is all about right?  Tablespoons and teaspoons look too similar in my opinion but o well I'm getting used to them.  

After adding all the remaining ingredients for the second time, I stirred them all together and then poured it over all the snack mix.  I was a little skeptical when I was adding the two together because it didn't look like that would be enough sauce to cover everything but it ended up covering all the snack mix perfectly!  I mixed everything with my clean hands again and then spread it all out on a cookie sheet to bake.  This is how much snack mix we had before it went into the oven...

The bowl looks deceivingly small but it made a TON I promise.

Before the baking process began

Baking in the oven

I put the snack mix in the oven for a total of an hour.  Every 15 minutes I took it out and stirred it on the sheet because that's what the recipe said to do.  I'm assuming it was so that none of the pieces would get overcooked.  I taste testing while mixing and it get better and better every time haha.  The 2nd time I took it out of the oven, I sprinkled Parmesan cheese over the snack mix to add a little more flavoring.  I also added a little more garlic power during this time because it tasted a little bland.  The last time I took it out before it was done, I sprinkled Parmesan cheese over it again and mixed it all up.  You don't have to add the Parmesan but it added a little extra cheesy kick.  When it was finally finished baking, it was very hard to stop eating.  I love pretzels so that was my favorite part but it was the best when you ate all the elements together.  It was a super quick and easy snack that will please pretty much anyone unless you don't like nuts.  If that's the case, just take them out and add anything to your liking.  The only problem with making something like this, is that it's hard to stop eating it so needless to say I was thankful to get rid of it the next day haha.

O How I Love Baking!

Today I realized how much I really love to bake.  Tomorrow is another one of my really good friend's birthdays and birthdays always mean baking for me!  Thankfully he asked for something that didn't have Oreos in it because as much as I love Oreos, I was ready for a break from them.  When I asked him what he wanted me to make him for his birthday, he said he wanted peanut butter brownies.  This was kind of an open request because there is a lot of different variation with just peanut butter brownies.  I wanted to make something unique and not just your average everyday brownie so I headed to google to find me a recipe.  I googled peanut butter brownies and stumbled upon a recipe that looked amazing.  I found this recipe on the blog called Nosh and Tell.  Here is the link for the website and the recipe http://www.noshandtell.com/?p=151.  I pretty much followed the recipe but I used a bit more peanut butter than the original called for so here is the recipe that I used...

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon water

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + 1/3 cup more for garnish

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips + 1/3 cup more for garnish

1 cup creamy peanut butter

First things first, I preheated the oven to 350F.  While the oven was heating up, I melted the butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave because I didn't want to wait for it to soften and I was going to heat it in the microwave next so I figured it wouldn't matter.  After heating the butter, I added the sugar and water and heated the mixture for 45 seconds in the microwave.  I stirred it together after taking it out and stirred in the semi-sweet chocolate chips. All the chocolate chips melted in very easily and then I added the egg and vanilla extract.  The flour was the next to go into the mixture as well as the baking soda.  I then let the the batter cool to room temperature which only took about 10 minutes.  The last element to the batter was the milk chocolate chips and I stirred those in until they were evenly distributed in the batter.  I then filled a muffin pan that I sprayed with Pam with the batter using an ice cream scoop.  The batter was just enough for 12 brownies.  Here's what they looked like before they were put in the oven...

Once placed in the oven, I let them bake for about 13 minutes or until the center was still moist when pierced with a fork or toothpick.  After 13 minutes, I put them back in for another minute because I wasn't sure if they were done.  I took them out and let them cool so that the centers would fall.  If the center of the brownies didn't fall, the recipe said use a tablespoon to push down the center in order to make a dip for the peanut butter.  Thankfully my brownies' centers fell in so I didn't have to!  Once they had been cooling for about 15 minutes, I heated up the peanut butter in the microwave for 45 seconds.  I thought the recipe only called for 1/4 cup, so I only measured out 1/4 cup.  After melting the 1/4 cup, I used a tablespoon to pour the melted peanut butter in the centers.  It was only enough for 4 brownies so I did 2 more rounds of 1/4 cup + about another 1/4 cup for garnish.  I added the remaining semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips to the peanut butter and then a sprinkled the rest of the peanut butter over the top of them.  This is what they looked like after adding the peanut butter and garnish...

YUM

Little messy looking but they taste so good

I then let them cool completely for about 2 more hours.  They easily came out of the pan because I used the Pam.  I cut into one just to take a peak at the inside and here's what it turned out to be...

Inside view

I had a little bite of the one I cut open and it was so rich and tasty.  The brownies were super dense and heavy when I took them out of the muffin pan but I haven't fully tasted one yet because I want to let the birthday boy taste them first.  I would definitely suggest making this recipe though because it was super easy and a great spin on an ordinary peanut butter brownie.  I'll let y'all know what the review is about them but I have a feeling it will be a good one haha!