Wedding chow

So I went to a very cute wedding this weekend of one Mike and Gretchen. It all took place in the town of Aurora NY, adorable little town, like 5 stores, a big lake, and lots of time to mellow. Look how cute they are!

Of course I'm going to talk about the food. Cocktail hour and dinner were at the Aurora Inn we were all staying at (cute bed and breakfast!) We were in a lake side room with a beautiful view of one of the finger lakes.

the third floor balcony (top one) was ours

The Inn had delicious food all night long. Amazing toasted garlic bread with bruechetta, all types of cheese and delicious fresh fruit and veggies. The first course salad was to die for... AMAZING!! It was a bed of spinach with candied walnuts bacon onions and a home made walnut dressing. I mean how beautiful does that look! I'm totally going to recreate this salad! DELICIOUS!


For dinner I had the fillet mignon with jumbo shrimp... sooo delicious. The shrimp and meat were cooked perfectly and served over a delicious mashed potato. I would show you a picture but I chowed in too fast before taking one... whooops!

Dessert was an array of so many tasty treats. My favorites being the almond cookies, linzer cookies, pistachio encrusted cannolis, caramel cheesecake, cherry pie and fresh fruit (yes i did try all of them plus more...). John fell in love with the tiramisu.

And of course I have to include a picture of John and me... :D



Oh and we can't forget about Sunday morning! It started with a basket of goodies left at our door, nice hot coffee and and some mini muffins and a paper. After a relaxed morning of coffee reading and muffins we headed downstairs to meet up with everyone for brunch. John had an omelet with fresh fruit and delicious whole wheat bread with raspberry jam (the jam was amaazing) I had some eggs over easy also with fruit and bread. DELICIOUS!!


Image of dessert table and of Gretchen and Mike were taken by Luke Walker (amazing photographer!)

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Free scoop day

Today is a wonderful glorious day... yes that is right... it's Ben and Jerry's free cone day! As most of you know I'm a gym rat. I was finishing up my daily gym routine when a person mentioned that today was free cone day. Beth's friend you rock for telling us! So after a night of lifting legs and doing some cardio we all walked over to the scoop shop so conveniently located on the RIT campus.. mmmmm decisions decisions what flavor to get.

There was a new flavor: coconut. I love coconut gelato or helado depending where you are and what ethnicity it's coming from. When I worked in Manhattan I would look for the helado carts every day. $1 got you a large dixi cup full of the creamy coconut laced stuff... mmmmmm *drool* I figured ben and jerry although good guys would no be able to compete with my street helado so instead I went for the Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz... yes it requires 3 buzz's :D And at 240 calories and 15 grams of fat per half cup... yes I certainly just undid whatever good I had done at the gym. But like nana said "everything in moderation" and as grandpa said "life is short eat dessert first" :D good words to live by!! So I ate my ice cream guilt free and enjoyed every last bite. YUM! Now... what should I have for dinner....

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Banana Bread Bake OFF!!!!

So I've decided to enter my yummy banana bread in a banana bread bake off! I mean how exciting! I love this whole online blog bake off events they are fantastic!! So click on the image above or head over to Not Quite Nigella to learn more!

Most banana bread recipes call for a stick of butter and a cup or MORE of sugar!? That is just not right in my book. There is no reason you should take what could be a good for you food and weigh it down with sugar and unnecessary fat. Instead I’ve taken a basic recipe and tweaked it to make it a low-fat butter free version that still is moist and tastes great!

Low-fat banana bread

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 overripe large bananas

3/4 cup no sugar added apple sauce

1/4 cup splenda for baking

1/2 Tbs imitation vanilla or 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (you can NEVER have too much vanilla)

1 egg

optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips or nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Using a spoon or a fork mash peeled bananas in a large bowl. Add apple sauce, sugar, vanilla, egg and mix well. Slowly add dry ingredients stirring to incorporate. Add chocolate chips or nuts if desired.

Spray a 9inch cake pan (yes cake not a bread loaf pan) with cooking spray and pour the batter into the pan. Use a spoon to spread to cover the bottom.

Cook for 25-30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when poked into the center. Do not over bake (it will get dry... yuck).

I like to slice it up like a cake. So get baking and chowing! I made the other night and John ate half of it before the morning... and the rest by the end of the day... hahaha love it!

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Whole wheat waffles

I love waffles. Especially belgian waffles. I have a standard thin waffle maker (which has a split personality... it's rather disconcerting... it also leads a second life as a pizelle maker, AND a panini maker depending on which plate you use). Anyway, belgian waffles are where it's at, deep wonderful crevices for syrup to fill! Who wouldn't love it? Lucky for me my roomie has a belgian waffle maker and she has since brought it home from its living at her boyfriends apartment. Hooray thick waffles are back! So I brought out my crazy healthy tweaked recipe that works great in the thin waffle machine... alas in the thick thick belgian kind... no oil means they tear apart pretty easy. Example below....

yes that's vermont maple syrup peaking out behind the pile of waffle fun... is there any other kind??

I must say after I tore the pieces off they were so crisp and wonderfully tasty... however it was a pain to get it out of the waffle maker...So I gave in an added some oil to the remained of the recipe, and thoroughly greased the hot plates before pouring the batter in.

I mean just look how that blueberry is lost in the deep crevice!

Much better luck this round at getting the waffle to release itself from its toasty home. It also gave me a little time to whip up some nice fruit topping.

whole wheat waffles
1 egg + egg white
1 3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbs Splenda
4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs oil

Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Beat egg and add to milk mixture along with oil (if using a belgian waffle maker). Gradually add wet to dry and whisk together until smooth.

Pour about 1/2 cup of batter onto a hot belgian waffle maker. Remove when light goes out or timer dings. Leave in a little longer for a crisper waffle.

fruit topping (serving for one)
5 frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tsp corn starch
1 Tbs splenda
splash of skim milk

heat strawberries and blueberries in a thick bottom pan, once they start to release juices add corn starch and splenda, if it gets to thick gradually add a little skim milk to attain desired tastiness... yes that really is a word :)

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Earth Day polar bear cuBcakes

Happy Earth Day everyone! It's absolutely beautiful here. AMAZING weather for april. It's been in the 70's and even 80's (normally it's in the 50's this time of year here).... yeahhhh so wonderful but kind of makes you stop and think... global warming much???? Ohh the irony of my earth day theme cupcakes!

Yes it's that time again cupcake hero time!! This is my third time competing and I must say it's wicked fun. The first month theme ingredient was liquor, the second marshmallow, and now... EARTH DAY!!! So immediately my mind went to dirt cupcakes with gummy worms (compost cupcakes love it!), then something vegan and all locally grown ingredients(excuse to hit the farmers market) Pistacio cupcakes (get it they are green haha)... perhaps a no bake to save on oven energy use??? I thought and thought and really wanted something different that hopefully no one else would think of.

Then my mind wandered to the cute pictures of penguins and polar bears on the reseeding ice caps... poor cute fluffy things sitting on a tiny little ice cube thinking "where'd all the ice go?" With that image in mind I decided to plead the case of the polar bears! So people stop global warming and save the polar bears!!

Those poor polar bears! There is no more ice in the arctic so they had to move into my refrigerator!

I also decided since my earth day was more about decorating I'd pay homage to my last two months of cupcake hero and make new versions of the theme ingredients... so we have a liquor based Amaretto cupcake, with a marshmallow seven minute frosting on top! See it's all about brining it full circle. Hope you guys love this one or at least get a laugh. I left the above image with sign in the refrigerator for my roommate (also named stephanie) and her boyfriend (also named John) to find. They were rolling hehe. And yes I know only I would live with someone with the same name who is also dating someone of the same name.. makes it super interesting when we are all there and someone is trying to call someone else ha!



Amaretto cupcakes

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking
1/4 cup finely chopped sliced almonds, toasted (about 1 ounce)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fat-free milk
2 Tbs butter or stick margarine, melted
1/4 cup amaretto (almond-flavored liqueur)
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, almonds, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine milk, butter, amaretto, and eggs; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Spoon batter into 6 lightly greased and floured muffin tins and 10 mini muffin tins (we aren't using paper holders, come on we are being green!).

Bake mini's for 10 minutes, regular size cupcakes for 16-17 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool fully.

Marshmallow, or Seven Minute Frosting

2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Combine frosting ingredients with a pinch of salt in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with a handheld electric mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled.

Assemble the polar bear cuBcakes
6 regular + 10 small cooled cupcakes
batch of frosting
coconut (amount will depend on how heavily you coat your bears! I used half a small bag)
11 large white gumdrops 5 small white gumdrops
chocolate chips (regular and mini) (I just cut a normal chip in half for the mini ones)
6 m&m

First, frost the top, sides, and bottoms of both a regular-size cupcake and a mini cupcake with white frosting. For each cupcake, frost the bottom first; then use a fork stuck into the bottom to hold the cupcake while you frost the rest of it.

Roll the cupcakes in shredded coconut; then, working on waxed paper, set the cupcakes on their sides with the top of the smaller cupcake stuck to the bottom of the larger one (use the icing like glue) to form the bear's head.

Add 2 horizontal slices from a large white gumdrop for ears, a m&m for a nose, and 2 chocolate chips for eyes. For each cub, frost a mini cupcake and a large gumdrop, then roll them in coconut and arrange them on their sides as shown. Add 2 horizontal slices from a small white gumdrop for ears, a chocolate chip nose, and 2 mini chocolate chip eyes.

seriously how freakin cute are these cupcakes!

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Spicy sprimp or tofu "sushi roll"

I have a secret love affair with sushi. It's true! Oh sushi how I love you!! But sushi is an expensive date. Hence why I love California Rollin's 3 rolls for $12 sundays. YUM I'll be going there this sunday with matt and john woohoo yum! Anyway back to my make shift in a pinch "sushi rolls" they are super easy to whip together and very tasty!

Spicy sprimp or tofu "sushi roll"
1/4 cup fat free mayo
1 tablespoon chili sauce
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
16 large shrimp or a container of baked tofu
1 Japanese cucumber, quartered lengthwise
head of romaine lettuce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
2 cups prepared brown rice

Mix the ingredients together to blend. Using a leaf of romaine, put a spoonful of brown rice in the middle. Place a piece of cucumber lengthwise ontop of the rice then place 3 tablespoons of the spicy shrimp mixture along the cucumber. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and roll the lettuce leaf up to form a burrito type packaging.

I also steamed up some edamame to have with these. so good!

yum yum yum

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Lets talk chocolate

So a little while ago I got my hands on some TCHO dark chocolate and proclaimed it amazingly the best. My good friend matthew has decided to challenge that statement by sending me a care package of chocolate!!!! yum now THAT is what I call a good friend!! tasty!!! He sent me two varieties.
The first is a rosewater bar by chocopologie. I'm not sure what matt has to say but I think the rosewater was a bit overpowering in this one. Even though it was 80% cacao it really didn't have a definet chocolate or even bitter taste. Good to the no bitter, ehh to the not powerful chocolate. I mean come on if I'm eating a chocolate bar I want it to taste like chocolate and not just rosewater :) So sorry matt TCHO still beats out this one... Now on to the next!!!


Next was a cherry chocolate bar by Eve kitten. This one had a less potent cherry flavor, it was more light and flavorful and added to the chocolate instead of overpowering it. Plus Eve Kitten surely wins on packaging. I mean look at the cool box it came in!! And the screen printer scandalous lady on the back of the chocolate... fantastic!

I would say Eve is on pretty equal ground with TCHO but is definetly more "fun" due to the packaging and imagery aligned with the brand. If the two were sitting next to each other on the shelf I would pick Eve over TCHO for sure. As for a blind taste test... I think I may still be leaning towards TCHO!? Crazy I know. TCHO is still beta testing though and it seems they are onto a new batch... I wonder if it's as good as the last or if it's too different... hmmmmmm

Now I want to go eat some chocolate.
yum

update: so the eve kitten is a little side project of chocopologie (for those who want to know) also this place is considered one of the top 3 chocolitiers in the world!!! crazy man!!!

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Shimp marsala

So while I was home a month or so ago I had made this "dish for one" and it was delicious. I kicked the mom and dad out of the house so they could have a nice date night and promptly started walking around the kitchen grabbing stuff that looked good together. In the end it was fantastic! Serve it up with some nice fresh bread and you are good to go!

Shrimp marsala for one
small handful of linguine (about 1.5 servings)
10-12 cooked frozen shrimp defrosted
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
2-4 shakes red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup marsala wine
few sprigs fresh parsley ripped into small pieces

Bring pot of water to boil and cook linguine according to pasta box. Set aside.

In your favorite saute pan heat olive oil then add garlic, red pepper, black pepper. Saute until lightly browned. Add shimp and toss to coat, pour in wine and cover to steam for 30 seconds. Remove cover and add in parsley. Stir, then pour over cooked linguine and toss to coat.

Enjoy a super fast and easy meal with a nice glass of wine (no not the cooking marsals wine, go buy yourself something nice haha)

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Pumpkin Gnocchi - vegan friendly

That's right I was on my last bite when I realized I hadn't taken a picture after they were cooked... wooops! Here is the last one in a nice spicy red sauce. Delicious!

So John and I love gnocchi (NYOH-kee), or if John is saying it (YON-kee)... yes it's an ongoing debate on how to say it. It seems most places in the world pronounce it like I say it... however when in a totally old school italian restaurant in Gates NY... it's the way he says it... hahaha. Since Gates is also known as "little Italy" I seem some cred to it... but being i'm part italian... I'm saying I'm right :) Anyway.... gnocchi is the only white pasta he will eat out, I know crazy huh (we eat the whole wheat kind at home though) I've tried making these before with yams but in a time crunch this recipe is the best! It's super fast and easy. Even though it's made with pumpkin you really can't taste it, it tastes like normal potato gnocchi!

Pumpkin Gnocchi
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
14 cups water

Combine 1 3/4 cups flour, pumpkin puree, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir well to form a smooth dough (dough will be slightly sticky). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape dough into a 12 x 3-inch-long roll. Cut roll lengthwise into 6 (1/2-inch-thick) strips, and cut each strip into 12 (1-inch) pieces. Press each piece of dough with a lightly floured fork. Place gnocchi on a lightly floured baking sheet; set aside.

Bring water to boil in a large Dutch oven. Add half of gnocchi; cook 3 minutes or until done. Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon; place in a colander. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.

sliced up and ready to be shaped

all ready to go into the water

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Whole wheat pancakes

Ahh naked pancakes quick cover them in something!!!

These are the easiest healthy super tasty fluffy pancakes EVER. I've tried a bunch of whole wheat healthy pancake recipes and they all fall flat, literally. They are these thin unfluffy sad looking pancakes... but NOT THESE! These puff up and taste amazing! I like to cover mine in freshly cut pineapple and maple syrup. Or you can cover them in yogurt... add some blueberries or chocolate chips to the batter... endless possibilities. :D

pancakes
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup apple sauce

1 cup skim milk
2 egg whites (or 1 whole egg)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients together until totally incorporated. Drop 1/4 cup of batter at a time onto a hot greased griddle or pan. When bubbles start to form flip pancake to cook other side. Serve with whatever is on hand or whatever you are craving!

yum

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Frozen peanut butter pie

Today is earth day says my coworker Josh. Most would think wait earth day isn't until the 22nd... Well in Josh's mind the day he was born is Earth day. :) So in honor of Josh's birthday (earth day) I made him a frozen peanut butter cup pie. ohh so tasty peanut butter pie! yum yum yum. And yes we ate some at 9am this morning YUM. I originally made this recipe years ago and it involved all full fat and a can of sweetened condensed milk... yeah i've healthed it up a BUNCH since then :)

Frozen peanut butter pie

First make the crust

• melt 1 cup of milk chocolate chips in a microwave safe glass bowl (1 min on high)
• remove from microwave and stir in 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
• grease a 8 or 9 inch pie pan and then spread warm chocolate to coat bottom and sides of pan, place in refrigerator to cool

Then make the filling
With a hand mixer beat until smooth
o 1/2 cup peanut butter
o 4 oz fat free cream cheese

Then beat in
o 1/2 cup fat free milk (add a little at a time so it doesn't splatter)
o 1/4 cup splenda (straight up splenda not the baking blend kind)

With a spatula or spoon stir in
o 8oz Cool Whip topping (I used the fat free version)

Pour into prepared chocolate crust and shave some chocolate over the top I also added some more graham cracker crumbles, freeze for at least 4 hours. It tastes like ice cream when served frozen, or let it sit out 15 minutes to thaw a bit for a smoother texture. Also works great if you sprinkle chocolate and peanut butter chips on top and drizzle with chocolate sauce before serving!

mmmmmmmm yum!

When Josh saw it he got all giddy and danced around. He loved it woohoo!

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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - vegan friendly

So it was SugarB's birthday last week and his favorite cookies are Oatmeal Raisin so I HAD to make him some :) John wasn't too excited though since these involve no chocolate which means he wants nothing to do with them haha. I've used a few different recipes for him in the past but I wanted to try a new one I saw over at Bitter Sweet. I changed it up a little and I think they turned out great! For the original recipe click here.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 1/4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup Rolled Oats
1 1/2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Maple Syrup
2 Tbs Splenda Blend (she uses 1/4 cup sugar)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 Cup pumpkin puree (canned or fresh) (she used a 1/2 mashed banana)
1/2 Cup Raisins
1/4 Cup Soymilk (or if you don't care about being vegan skim milk works fine too)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together your dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon). Slowly add in the maple syrup, sugar, vanilla, milk, and pumpkin. It will be a somewhat dry batter so that you can roll balls in your palms and then flatten them on the cookie sheet. If it’s still too dry to do so, you can always add some extra milk until you’re happy with the consistency. Place on a silicon mat onto your baking sheet. The cookies don't really spread so however you shape them is what they will look like coming out of the oven.

Bake 8-10 minutes.

Makes about 2 dozen.

Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Bran Muffins

I went skiing yesterday... yes 60 degrees not a cloud in the sky skiing. Ahhhh it was wonderful... and very tiring haha so when I got home I HAD to bake something to re-energize me! Pumpkin Bran Muffins came to mind....I love these muffins. They are perfect for a snack or an addition to breakfast. Super healthy and super super delicious. I mean who doesn't love pumpkin? Ok probably a lot of people but seriously I'm in love with pumpkin anything :) A half dozen of these were polished off by a certain someone within minutes of them being done. Hope you like them!


pumpkin bran muffins
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
dash salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup bran flakes
1/4 cups splenda brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree -- fresh or canned

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 convection). Spray muffin tins with non-stick oil. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Stir in bran flakes.

In separate bowl, beat together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and the egg. Slowly add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture. Beat well, until smooth. Fill muffin tins two-thirds full. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of muffins comes out clean.

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Kung Po Chicken

But I like calling it kung POW chicken. Because "George likes his chicken spicy!!!" Yes yes that was a gratuitous Seinfeld quote. I need to start cooking before I'm starving because instead of taking nice pictures with properly plated food I just throw it on a plate take a quick snap and start chowing!! So in the future I'll try to take some nicer pictures :) Ok now please enjoy the very spicy Kung Po Chicken. YUM



Ingredients
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 lb chicken, boneless/skinless cubed
1/4 cup green onions
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 cup carrots, thinly sliced with a mandolin or veggie peeler
2 tsp red pepper flakes (warning normal people only want to use 1 tsp :D )
1/2 cup Kung Pao sauce
1/3 cup peanuts
1 package boil in bag brown rice

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in wok or non-stick skillet over high heat. Toss chicken in cornstarch to coat and add to oil. Don’t begin stirring chicken until the bottom has turned golden brown. Then stir occasionally until all pieces are crispy (this is the key to good Kung Pao chicken - crispy chicken). Remove chicken from pan onto a plate covered with a paper towel.

Stir fry green onions, garlic, carrots, and red pepper flakes. Whisk 1/3 cup Kung Pao sauce with 1/4 cup water and add to skillet. Stir well and add chicken and peanuts, toss to coat. Serve immediately over brown rice.

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