Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baking. Show all posts

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Thursday Baking Fun


This evening we are hosting Justin's uncle and his girlfriend for dinner. I am in charge of dessert and I will be revisiting a recipe favorite this afternoon - Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Blondies. Justin will be making homemade ice cream to go on top... I was thinking cinnamon ice cream would be super yum addition, I shall see what he decides!

Xo from the kitchen!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Stormy Weather

Happy Monday! As the rain pours and the wind howls due to Tropical Storm Isaac, I enjoy our apartment ... cleaning, reading, job applying, hand standing, etc. If you were to ask what I am excited about right now, in this moment... I would tell you "College Football." We are tailgating in Gainesville on Saturday since Justin has inherited a great spot from his friends at work ... My sister and her boyfriend are coming into town to stay with us and fun is to be had!!

I have been thinking a lot about what I am going to serve at the tailgate. I always wonder why tailgates aren't healthy. I am not saying we need to munch on carrots all afternoon, but I am going to add a touch of health to this Saturday's tailgate. People can bring and eat whatever they want, right ? I know I will indulge slightly, but wouldn't it be great to have healthy options, too ? :)

Fruit Kabobs with Greek Yogurt Honey Dip ... Fruit can always be changed per what is in season. (via SkinnyTaste)

Guacamole ... May add cilantro to this one, but looks incredible! (via EatLiveRun)

Peach Mozzarella and Basil Salad ... Excited for this twist on a classic caprese! (via Keep it Simple Foods)

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers ... Throw it on the grill, like anything else! I love black bean burgers as well, sweet potato will be new for me in the kitchen this week! (via Healthy Happy Life

Peanut Butter Chocolate Banana Coconut Cookies ... Sweet Disposition! Maybe I should call them PBCBCC's ?!  These cookies are Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free, and Egg-Free. (via The Family Kitchen)

Xo,





Thursday, December 1, 2011

It's Never to Late for a Wedding Gift!

My sister-in-law sent us our wedding gift in the mail (we married about 18 months ago) and we received it today in a monstrous box. Now that she is out of school, I think it was easier for her to purchase something now versus at that time... We are so thankful she gave us such a cool, functional gift!!!


I had no idea what had arrived in the massive Amazon.com box .. All I could think was, what did Justin order ? I thought it was some sort of piece of technology!


When I returned home from teaching, I saw J had opened the box and there sat a wrapping-paper wrapped box with a pretty bow!! And that's when I learned this was a gift from his sister... So, we opened box after box after box and in the final box, we found something Justin (and I think me ;) have "wanted" for a while... A Viking Professional Series Mixer.. Hooray!! :)


Time to make pizza dough, bake, and go nuts in the kitchen!!! 

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Black & White Whoopie Pies



Whoopie Pies... They are creeping up everywhere and with the holiday upon us, I knew I had my chance to bake something fun! I originally was going to bake Pumpkin WPs, but I decided to go a bit a simpler... Black & White...


They turned out great ... If you decide to try the recipe, check out Delish :) Some things to keep in mind....


1. My recipe yielded (8) not (12) pies. I might have made the cookies to small, but they seemed pretty large to me!
2. The recipe instructs 3 tsb of filling/icing per sandwich, but this amount tended to be too much and dripped off some of the pies. I recommended 2 tbs.
3. Make sure to have some milk nearby to wash these babies down as they are uber rich!
4. ENJOY!



Monday, August 22, 2011

Good Friends, Yoga, & Squash

This weekend, my best friend Christin and her boyfriend, Mike, came into town to visit. We did a lot of yoga, a lot of walking, and lots of site seeing! Christin and Mike and the hubs attended my first yoga class ever - part of my Seva project - at Qi Edgewater. This was incredibly exciting and comforting to have them in town for this first-time type of weekend.



For my first class, I had my students donate oatmeal to the charity of my choice. I had 8 friends attend the event, and I was super psyched about this because the studio was truly filled!! Being my first class, I was most definitely a bit nervous so I went a lot faster than I thought I was going. I ended up teaching class with 20 minutes to spare! Holy Cow!! My friends who attended gave me wonderful criticism that was super helpful for my class I taught this morning. I really enjoyed having my friends as well as fellow teacher-trainers in my class!!





The rest of the weekend, we focused on Colorado beer for Mike and fun times downtown for all. Saturday evening, we walked Lodo and grabbed pizza at Buenos Aires. Later, we ended up meeting Mike's friends at Rock Bottom. From there, we went to Wynkoop and goofed around. Christin ordered a soda and I ordered a Shirley Temple.
YUM!




Sunday morning, we cooked breakfast and drank coffee as needed! We hiked around the lake by our house with Baci and then walked back to my house to get ready for the Rockies vs. Dodgers game. This game was a lot of fun  - especially went we started walking around (innings 3 and on). Justin ran into a friend and we had a blast checking out the rock pile and just being silly...

Later on, we walked around downtown, took photos, and then decided to head home for a bit of a rest!! We all became super hungry at some point and headed to the Highlands for tons of SUSHI!! I ate as though I had never eaten before and we had a blast :) After returning home, we hung out in the basement and decided to play Dance Dance Revolution. We formed teams and became super competitive - but kept it fun!! What a fun workout!!! After playing till midnight, we called it night...

This morning I woke up thinking "I get to teach today!". Today, I had 3 students and I actually didn't mind it. I made a strong effort to show a lot of the alignment to my students, but I avoided chataranga dandasana as my wrist was feeling a little tender. This time around, I slowed my pace - especially during Sun B. I really allowed the students to inhale their leg high from the inner thigh - to really feel the extension from the inner thigh the to the heel. I themed off of the breath and how we can do ANYTHING we want to do in this world as long as we continue to breathe through it!! I chose this as my theme because during Saturday's class, I didn't feel as though many of the students were breathing or were guiding their bodies with inhales and exhales. From this, I knew I needed to accentuate this essential part of the yoga practice. Class went really well I thought. We ended with a five minute savasanah and I was told my class was 100% improved from Saturday's class!!

Whoohoo!!



Today we goofed around and I took Christin and Mike to Great Divide Brewing Co. for a beer tasting. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the airport!! I miss them all ready - what a blast we have had all weekend :)

This evening.... Justin and I decided it was time to start working with our 6+ huge squash... Justin sauteed veggies while I baked the squash... Summer Squash Bread and Summer Squash Choc Chip Muffins and mini loaves!! We still have more squash to cook - so this week should be super interesting and fun!!






Saturday, December 4, 2010

SWEET POTATO BLONDIES



It's been over a week since Thanksgiving, and I was ready for more sweet potato-something!! These turned out amazing. I double the recipe and subsituted Almond Milk for regular milk.... You most certainly don't have to use chocolate chips, but I used Ghiradelli's semi-sweets with zero regrets... :)

Servings:         12
Cook time:      28-32 min



Ingredients:

3/4 cup cooked, well-mashed, orange-colored sweet potato
1/2 cup canola oil
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup nondairy milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cups unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

You can also make these with regular milk if you'd like.

Directions:

Line an 8 x 8-inch square metal brownie pan with enough aluminum foil
so that it folds over the sides of the pan by about an inch. Spray the
bottom of the covered pan with a little nonstick cooking spray.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potato, oil, sugar, brown
sugar, nondairy milk, and vanilla until smooth. A few tiny chunks of
sweet potato are okay.






Sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and allspice.
Mix just enough to moisten, then fold in the nuts and chocolate chips,
if using. Do not overmix.

Pour mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber
spatula [metal works too]. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, checking the
bars at 28 minutes by poking a toothpick into the center of the cake.
Bars are done if a toothpick comes out mostly clean; a few moist
crumbles here and there are okay. Take care not to overbake. Allow the
blondies to cool at least 30 minutes for the texture and flavor to
fully develop, then slice into 12 bars. Store in a covered container.

Source: Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar

My baking partner in crime...

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