Saucy Mama - giveaway

Ok this one is to all you saucy mamas and papas out there! Seriously how fabulous is the name of this company?? Really now!

Saucy Mama is a new collection of marinades, mustards, and sauces. I was one of the lucky 25 bloggers who was sent a big box full to try out. In exchange for all these yummy sauces my task is to come up with a fun easy recipe that a stay at home saucy mama or papa could easily put on the table! I have until September 1st to come up with said idea... I have a ton bouncing around.. nothing 100% set yet though.

To check out their full collection head on over here.

I have to say the bottle of wing sauce is calling my name BIG TIME... it's also calling my roommates name... so I better watch out or it might be gone before I get to try it :D

Now, so you don't feel left out, Saucy Mama sent me some extra bottles of the Lime Chipotle Marinade.

Leave me a comment with what you'd use your bottle of Lime Chipotle Marinade on for a chance to win a bottle.

You have until the end of the day Monday August 3rd to enter. Make sure to come back and check to see if you won! (if you have a blogger account and it's set to private I can't go and see your email, so I have no way of reaching you... so check back to see if you won!)

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Go chow to help the MDA

I was contacted yesterday about a wonderful event happening tonight. Carrabba's is having a little mixer and proceeds are going to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Come on people... chow... that helps benefit a good organization, I'm IN! I've actually never been to a Carrabba's but an event like this seems like a good excuse to try them out!

Here are the details:

Carrabba’s Italian Grill “Mix it up for MDA” Event

What: “Mix it Up for MDA” Event, a fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association

When: (TONIGHT!) Thursday, July 30th from 5 p.m. to close

Cost: $15 a person

Admission includes a sampling of four food items from the new Mr. C’s Bar Menu and, for guests 21 years and older, one of three signature cocktails (Blackberry Lemonade, the Italian Lemon Drop or Blackberry Fields Martini) or another drink on the Mr. C’s list. In addition to monies raised from event admission, Carrabba’s also will donate $1 to MDA for each of the three signature drinks sold from July 30 – August 6.


Where: To find Carrabba’s locations near you, visit http://carrabbas.com/locator.aspx


They also gave me access to the recipes for the feature drinks! Pretty sweet huh :D So tell me... which one should I make first? I'm thinking the Italian Lemon Drop has my name written all over it.


So go have a drink to support the MDA!

Click on the below image to see the other drink recipes!


If you go let me know which drink you tried and how you liked it :)

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You got PB in my chocolate

These cookies rock on! It's basically a chocolate cookie with a surprise peanut butter center. Sometimes called magic in the middle cookies I took the butter laden recipe and healthed it up. I know you've seen these before... but this version is much much healthier and they are so addictive. I sent these along with the lasagna to my friends family. The husband and two little boys had no clue these things had prune puree and whole wheat flour in them... and they LOVED them!!! I love when that happens, sneaky sneaky, and they liked it :) Had they known... they probably wouldn't have even tried them.

Give these a try and I'm sure you will fool your kids... unless they are allergic to nuts... then don't make these for them :D Next time I'm making these I'm going to use cashew butter. YUM!!

You got PB in my chocolate cookies
adapted by steph chows
350 degrees 8-10 minutes
Makes 16 cookies

Chocolate dough recipe
In a large bowl beat together:
½ cup of brown sugar (not packed)
2 Tbs butter, softened
2 - 2.5 oz containers prune puree (I use a 2 pack of gerber baby food)
¼ cup of peanut butter (I used all natural chunky)

Gently fold in:
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

In a separate bowl whisk together:
1 ½ cups of whole wheat four
½ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp of baking soda
dash of sea salt (you can leave this out if you are using salted PB)
½ cup of splenda granulated (or 1/2 cup white sugar)

Slowly add dry to wet, set aside.

Peanut butter filling
Beat together:
2/3 cup of chunky peanut butter
1/3 cup of powdered sugar

Now is the fun part

Make little balls with the PB

Using a scoop grab some of the chocolate dough

Pop the dough into your hand

Gently press a PB ball into the center

Press the chocolate dough around the PB ball to fully cover it

Place on a silicon coated baking mat and flatten with wet fingers (otherwise everything will stick to your fingers).

Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes. CHOW!

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Get well lasagna and cookies

We all know I'm a "feed the soul" kind of person. If someone is sick or has bad things going on in their life, I'm there with some form of comfort food. I know in the grand scheme of things it's not much, but I think food is one of the most comforting things when life is being turned upside down. I was telling my mom about what I was making and she started telling me about a neighbor who brought over a salmon casserole and warm pita chips after her dad passed away. The memory was so strong in her mind. A simple meal, yet filled with so much love, is so powerful. I can only hope I bring that kind of warmth and comfort to those I cook and bake for.

The short version is a friend had to go to the hospital with many weird symptoms and not a lot of answers for said symptoms. She totally rules the roost at home and John and I knew her husband and two kids could use a little bit of home cooking while she was stuck in the hospital. (side note: any good thoughts, prayers, whatever you believe in sent her way are much appreciate) She's home now but I know she still has a good amount of time left to recover.

Cue lasagna and cookies... The lasagna whips together in no time... the cookies take a little more time but as so worth the effort.


Let me share the simple recipe for this meat packed bad boy... cookie recipe to come in a bit :)
Meat and Cheese Lasagna

what you need
12 lasagna noodles (you don't have to cook them first)
1 lb ground beef
1 jar favorite tomato sauce (Diavola for me)
2 cups water
1/4 cup pesto
1 container part skim ricotta
1 egg
parsley/basil/black pepper to taste
2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella

Brown the beef in a pan, once cooked drain off excess fat. Dump in the tomato sauce, pesto, and water. Bring to a boil. White that is going on... in a medium bowl take your tub of ricotta, an egg, seasoning, and half your shredded mozzarella and mix it all up.

OK now layer in this order in a 9 x 13 baking pan
enough sauce to cover the bottom
4 noodles
1/2 of ricotta mixture
more sauce to cover
4 noodles
1/2 of ricotta mixture
more sauce to cover
4 noodles
remainder of sauce
layer of shredded mozzarella

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes with tin foil. Remove tin foil and let brown for final 10 minutes.

Quick and easy and oh so comforting :)

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How to pit a cherry... and then make jam!

OK first off... the first annual steph chows jam exchange is underway!!! I've gotten some very exciting emails back from some of you already detailing what you sent... and MAN does it sound delicious!!! Maybe I should have just had you all send your jam to me... now that would have been an evil little plot if I do say so myself :) Thank you so much everyone for joining!!

If you signed up or think you signed up and didn't get an email from me this weekend with your exchange person's address... please email me right now and let me know!!! ( stephchows at gmail.com )


Now lets talk about some cherries. I bought a GIGANTIC container of cherries (like 10 lbs no joke) for the grand total of $6 at the public market last weekend. Hence why I had to make some cherry jam! I don't own a cherry pitter... my mom does, she said I could drive on down and borrow it... yeah 10 hours round trip... for a cherry pitter... no thanks :) Instead of going and buying one (the obvious solution), I went to the internet to find inventive ways to pit said cherries. One place had a great idea of using a straw... too bad the straws I had at home were so flimsy they just bent in half LOL (great idea though, it would work perfectly if you had a strong straw!) Next I tried a skewer... a few self inflicted jab marks later I moved on to my most obvious solution... the "squeeze them till the pit pops out" method.

squeeze.
thumb pins the pit to your other finger (or palm of your hand) as the rest of the fruit goes mushing in all directions (notice this method also gets rid of the step where it tells you to chop up the cherries) giddy up it's a two for one deal!


TADA!! Easy as pie! Yeah that puddle of cherry juice next to the measuring cup... that was from the straw method failure :D

I must say this was a seriously fast method! No buying a cherry pitter for me, think of all the time spent placing each cherry carefully into the pitter... my way... pure brutal force! Bring it on!


Cherry Jam
5 cups pitted cherries (somewhere around there)
2 cups sugar
1 package low sugar pectin (I used sure gel)

I used the recipe on the back of the low sugar pectin... except they say measure exactly and they also say to use 3 cups of sugar... Yeah.... I decided "screw that I only want to use 2 cups" and you know what... it jelled up no issues, and tastes great!!!

Take your 5 cups of pitted cherries and toss them in a sauce pan with 1/4 cup sugar and the package of pectin, stir it all up. Bring to a rolling boil (that means when you stir there are still bubbles bubblin away). Then add the rest of the sugar (1 3/4 cups) and stir that in. Return to a boil and stir for one minute. Remove from heat and process in a 10 minute water bath. More info on processing here.

SO FRAKIN GOOD!

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Strawberry rhubarb pie

Baking is wicked fun, baking with a friend is even more fun! For starters you have someone to chat up the whole time, second, it means I can take action shots of the chow! This recipe is being filed straight away under the "Not Healthy" The crust has TWO sticks of butter in it, yeah you heard me right... not ONE but TWO!!

steph was a bit overzealous with the flour LOL

This is the pie Steph and I made for her John. His parents have a couple huge rhubarb bushes. Steph's John says if you look up rhubarb in the dictionary it says it's a pie plant... something tells me he's making this up. Either way, we'd never say no to free rhubarb, so off we went to make a pie!





I made the crust, the recipe comes from Smitten Kitchen, don't you love her? I seriously want to be her. She has a great write up there and explains all the steps out. As for the pie filling, Steph made it, and that one comes from a Betty Crocker cookbook (you can find the filling recipe over here). The pie really is simple to put together. Just make sure you don't overfill it like we did... and if you do, just place a large jelly roll pan on the rack below it, makes cleanup WAY easier that way :)




And in case you were wondering... it was freaking delicious!!!!

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Lighten it up

I've sure been posting a lot of baked goods... it's about time for a salad wouldn't you agree? To me a salad needs to be easy to throw together, nothing complicated going on here. Some good greens, accents of flavor and color, some good proteins and you are good to go.


This one had romaine hearts, cucumbers, some Mediterranean spiced feta, topped with a grilled piece of salmon (I gave the salmon a little drizzle of olive oil and some cracked pepper before it hit the grill). As for the dressing, I whipped up a creamy balsamic number.

Like I've said before with other proteins, they need to be moist and tender. I wont eat over cooked fish so I make sure to keep a close eye on things if not under cook it slightly. You can always put it back on the grill for an extra minute... but you can't undo overcooking.

For the dressing... it's really not a recipe more a toss it all in a bowl and mix so these measurements are a guess...

Creamy Balsamic Dressing
1/2 cup plain fat free yogurt
tiny bit of canola oil
3-4 Tbs balsamic vinegar
freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Chow!

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100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Ahhh bread we meet again... My first 100% whole wheat bread attempt turned out as a gigantic hockey puck (come on I know you've been there too) This experienced caused me to be a little skeptical of baking 100% whole wheat breads... until now.


Maria from Two Peas and their Pod had so many good things to say about this whole wheat sandwich bread, I knew I had to give it a chance. I had been leaving the whole wheat bread to the real bakers and kneading up my own white breads at home. This recipe gives those store bought breads a run for their money though.

I've used the bread to make sandwiches, toasted it up with a little butter, soaked it in egg and milk to make a mean french toast, any way you slice it (that was an awful joke) you are going to love it!

Genoa salami, mustard, and a pickle, now that's a tasty lunch

Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Stouts' recipe found via Two Peas and their Pod

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 T vital wheat gluten (find it at Whole Foods, Bob's Red Mill, King Arthur, etc.)
2 packets of yeast (I used rapid rise)
2 1/2 cups warm water

In a large mixing bowl (preferably a KitchenAid), add the 3 cups flour, wheat gluten, and yeast. Stir. Add in warm water and stir until combined. Let sit for 10 minutes.

1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 T lemon juice
1 T salt
3 1/2-4 cups whole wheat flour

Mix the oil, honey, lemon juice, and salt in a small bowl. Add to flour mixture after the 10 minutes. Mix until combined. Add in the additional flour and mix. Now knead the dough for ten minutes with the dough hook. When it is done divide the dough into two loaves. Make sure they are even. Shape them into loaf form. Place the dough into 2 loaf pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with a clean towel and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. After the loaves have risen, bake them for 30 minutes. They should be golden brown. Let cool before slicing, if you can wait:) You can freeze one of the loaves if you wish.

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Cucumber Salad

There are a lot of things that remind me of summers during my childhood, the smell of chlorine (we lived... seriously lived in the pool, this followed me into my teen years, first job, lifeguard/swim instructor) other smells... suntan lotion, anything cooking on the grill, fresh cut grass, other things in general... bare feet, not having to wear pants (see above pool comment), the list can go on and on... but we are here to talk about cucumber salad... which = summer.

Nana (my mom's mom) would make this, and so would my mom, when the cucumbers were the best, during the summer. It's a very easy recipe but is super delicious.

The first step is to slice the cucumbers with a mandolin... don't have one? That's ok, just slice them as thin as you can. Next in a colander placed over a bowl, layer the cucumbers and sprinkle a generous amount of salt over them. Walk away for an hour and let them sit at room temperature and release all their liquids.

After an hour come on back and rinse them really well, once rinsed, squeeze them with your hands to get as much water out of them as you can. Place in a bowl and top with equal parts seasoned rice wine vinegar(mom uses white vinegar so that works too) and water. Then sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper and paprika and stir, chill for an hour or overnight. Serve cold.


I told you, wicked simple :) My Mom and Nana always made this with white vinegar, but I wanted to give it a try this way since I received some Nakano Rice Wine Vinegar through Foodbuzz and wanted to try it out in something that would showcase its flavors. The verdict.... I'm totally making this with the seasoned rice wine vinegar again! White vinegar tastes good in this, but the rice wine gave it a little extra kick that I really enjoyed :)

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What I did on my day off

So I took off work yesterday. Most people take off work to go to the beach, maybe a nice hike in the woods, get some errands done, sure I love those things (except the errands part) but why did I take off yesterday you may ask. Because I have a problem... a baking problem... I wanted to bake... and sew a few things. So I took the day off to do so... yes I'm a 1950's housewife stuck in a 20-somethings body. wicked fun if you ask me :)

So here's what I made yesterday:

Batch of poose cookies for John


Batch of oatmeal raisin cookies for a friend who dislocated her knee. Come on cookies totally help heal knees!

Bonana bread... I had WAY too many bananas in the freezer... something had to be done about it.


Granola. Love this stuff over greek yogurt with some honey blueberries and strawberries. YUM!


Strawberry Ruhbarb Pie- I made this with my roommate (Steph) for her boyfriend (John) yes I know I know, and no it wasn't on purpose and no it's not confusing when someone calls because we've never had a land line, only cell phones :)

You see Steph's John has been wanting pie for awhile... and Steph has been a bit busy, so he started bugging me about when I was going to make him pie LOL. In the end Steph and I made it together and her John better be happy :D I'll have the recipe and more process/ up close pictures next week.

Finally I made some cool cucumber salad. It's a recipe my Nana, and my mom always made when I was growning up. Mom made mention of it the other day and I couldn't help myself but run right out and make some. It's SO GOOD, and so simple. Recipe for that to come next week too :)


If you had a free day off what would you do??

OH and I can't forget, I went to Ultimate Frisbee league at night! I scored 2 points! AND assisted on a third point woo woo! Then I came home to an amazingly grilled meal made by Steph and John and we had the pie for dessert YUM!

Oh and don't forget you have until Sunday to sign up for the jam exchange if you haven't already :)

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XL shirt

So I was very excited to find out I won something I didn't even know I was entered for!


The foodie blog roll was having a giveaway of this t-shirt to promote Steven Raichlen’s new grilling cookbook. You can learn more about it here.

If you can't tell just how HUGE this shirt is by the above picture... let me tell you... WOW. It's a men's XL but in all reality... I think it should be a XXXL

Doesn't this look like one of those before after weight loss ads??


LOL... needless to say I wont be wearing this... unless I give it a little *snip snip* makeover... we'll see, as of now I'm giving it to John to wear :)

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Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I always buy carrots and think I'm going to eat them... and then I never do... and they go bad... but this last time before I let that happen I decided to do something with them... no I didn't just eat them... I made dessert out of them. I mean you might as well use them in something you'll enjoy right ;)

Carrot cake can be seriously dry, BLEH, no thank you. These are super duper moist, and not an ounce of butter. Please believe me, these things taste so moist and decadent, you'd never know they are made with no oil or butter. Add a little cream cheese frosting on top, and you are good to go!

I pretty much pulled this recipe out of thin air, and was very excited they came out well. I mean that is the worst when you try something random and it's a big *whomp whomp* Next time you need a quick dessert to bring along somewhere just print this out and you wont be sorry :)

Oh and the pumpkin puree... you don't taste it at all... it just adds an amazing moistness and tenderness to the cake!


steph chows carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting
for cupcakes you will need:
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup splenda granulated (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups carrots (gratted)
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2-3 Tbs skim milk

In a large bowl beat together:
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup splenda granulated (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
2 eggs

Then fold in:
1 1/2 cups carrots (grated)
1 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl whisk together:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Gentry stir dry into wet. Add in 2-3 Tbs fat free milk as you stir. Fill 12 cupcake lined pans. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Beat together the following:
4 oz room temp cream cheese 1/3 less fat variety
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Spread on top of cooled cupcakes and refrigerate if not eating right away.

These stay moist for days... so no worries about storing them in a sealed container in the refrigerator overnight or for a few days.

AND don't forget to sign up for the jam exchange if you haven't already :)

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Chicken Parm

Isn't it fun when you find out something random you never knew about someone who is very close to you??? This happened with me and John this weekend. He doesn't eat red meat, so I'm always trying to come up with new ways to make chicken fun. Well I realized I had never made chicken parm for him before... so off I went, slicing and dicing, breading, and cheesing up some chicken parm... pour some nice chunky red sauce over it... only to find out... he doesn't like chicken parm... wait what??


He loves red sauce, wants it on everything... loves when I do oven breaded chicken... but apparently breaded chicken and red sauce don't go together... he's a nut isn't he? I always tell him, "it's a good thing you're cute, cause otherwise you'd be in big trouble"

Well let me tell you, he ate said chicken parm... and said it tasted really good. So take THAT not liking chicken parm!!

The most important part of making this is to not over cook the chicken. If it's not tender... I wont eat it. dry chicken = inedible in my mind. So keep and eye on this and try to cut your chicken pieces to equal thicknesses so you don't under/over cook half of them.

I was busy making a couple batches of muffins in the oven so I cooked these on the stove. That is also why I don't cook the breast in full form... they cook much faster when you cut them up, so it's less likely to dry out.


steph chows chicken parm

Mix the following in a shallow bowl
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbs corn starch
salt, pepper, chili powder, parsley flakes to taste

Cut the chicken into finger sized pieces about 1/4-1/2 inch thick
3 skinless chicken breasts fat trimmed

Slices of mozzarella (you can use full fat, reduced fat, fat free... whatever floats your boat)
Pasta sauce of choice heated up

Heat a large pan covered in olive oil spray over medium heat. (I like to use my pancake pan since it's huge)

As pan is heating take chicken pieces one by one and dredge in the flour mixture and place on hot pan. Start with the slightly thicker pieces and end with the thinnest (see this way they all cook evenly) Cook 2-3 minutes and then turn. Don't smoosh the pieces down with a spatula... that just pushes all the juices out... don't do it! Place bits of mozzarella on each piece. Continue cooking until it's not pink in the middle (I'll take a piece and slice it open to check). Remove from pan and cover with pasta sauce of your choice. Sprinkle with more parm if you like, and serve!

Chow!

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Bread is my mistress

a double batch after rising for an hour

OK what's the male version of mistress? Well that's what good home made bread is to me :) Sorry John... I'm cheating on you with home made bread... and I'm not even guilty about it!

Let me digress for a minute... I've been taking an intro to wheel throwing pottery class this summer (wicked fun). I've never done pottery before (unless you count painting random already made pottery when I was a kid). Let me tell you, throwing pottery is seriously fun!!! I'm still finishing glazing some pots and bowls but once I'm all done I will have made 19 of them! Woo Woo! Here's an example of my expert *cough cough* work :)



We had a big potluck dinner for our final class the other night, can you guess what I volunteered to bring?

I knew one loaf wouldn't be enough, so I made a double batch of the following recipe. This recipe is like bread for beginners. You don't have to proof the yeast or anything... just toss all the dry ingredients (including the yeast) into a bowl, mix, add the warm water and oil, kneed, let it rise for an hour... bake for 30 minutes... and you are DONE AND DONE!!! See isn't the easy? Don't' you want to go run home and make some up right now??


Sorry I don't have any inside shots, but trust me, this is some seriously tender bread with a wonderful crust, and the little bit of sea salt on top... MMMMM! MMMMMM!!!! Man I wish I had some right now... I think I need to go bake some... right now :D

The second loaf was a bit bigger than the first one... whoops! Haha, they both tasted the same though. My classmates were wicked impressed I made the bread, and also very excited that I took off work so I could make the bread fresh right before class started. Hot bread out of the oven?? Yes please! My friend Beth who is also taking the class made some of my hummus to go along with the bread. Delicious!

So don't be afraid, go try this! And you can really add any seasoning in that you have, this batch I used thyme and some red pepper flakes for a little kick!

Thyme/Rosemary Bread
I have no clue where I got this recipe... but I LOVE IT!
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons dried thyme or rosemary
2 1/2 cups bread flour (i used king arthur bread flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one package)
1 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
dash of large grain sea salt to top the loaf (optional)

Add dry ingredients (salt through yeast) to a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and combine. (You can do this all by hand too if you don't have a mixer, it will just take a little longer)

Warm water to 100-130 degrees. (30 seconds in the microwave works perfectly)

Create a well in the dry ingredients and add oil and warm water.

Mix dough until it cleans the sides of the bowl. Allow dough to knead on the hook in the bowl for 1-2 minutes. (If using your hands just kneed until it comes away from the counter top and is no longer sticking to your hands- it should feel a little elastic)

Coat a clean bowl with olive oil. Add dough to bowl, turn to coat, and allow to rise in covered bowl for 1 hour.

Shape dough into square or round loaf (your choice). Brush top of dough with oil and top with sea salt or any other seasonings you like.

Heat oven to 375 and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Serve with olive oil seasoned with herbs or cracked black pepper, or hummus, or ANYTHING really

yum yum yum yum yum!!!!

AND don't forget to sign up for the jam exchange if you haven't already :)

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Baby Shower Cupcakes

First don't forget to sign up for the jam exchange!
And if you didn't see it, take a look at John's guest blog :)


I'm a big fan of all things home made, so when I found out a few friends were expecting I had to get the move on and start crocheting some cute little things!

First was Zoe and Geoff, for there little boy/girl I made a set of cute puppies.


Next was Josh and Chris, for their little boy I made a ring rattle and a little dinosaur!


Now we can't forget about some chow right? When I think of baby showers I think of very scary situations filled with many many woman and stupid stupid horrible games... this was not going to be the case for this baby shower though *phew* cause me, I can't handle that crap...

Even though one baby was a going to be a boy for sure... I made the cupcakes pink anyway... why? because I had strawberry foam... and I wasn't about to waste it :)

Fudgy Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 12)
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/4 cup splenda blend for baking (or 1/2 cup white sugar)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup Hershey's 100% Cocoa Special Dark
2 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (i used semi-sweet chips)

Preheat oven to 350 F
Mix apple sauce, splenda, vanilla, beat in egg
In a separate bowl mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon.
Add flour mixture to wet mixture a little at a time, stir in chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into 12 silicon muffin cups (or lightly greased cupcake tins or use cupcake liners!)
Bake for about 20 minutes or until tops are firm to touch.

Strawberry cream cheese frosting
4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbs strawberry foam (I'm sure jam would work too... just lumpier)

Beat all the ingredients together until smooth, spread on top of cooled cupcakes.

This little pink dino is on its way to one Joel and Jennifer who gave birth to a little girl named Olivia... man I'm going to stop drinking the water... everyone is pregnant!!! Yes Neva, Anjali, plus more, I'm looking over at all of you too! Pregnant ladies are everywhere!!!!

Speaking of Anjali... I made her this cute little bear who's wearing a red sweater!


Hey Neva... what kind of fun animal might your little bun in the oven like???

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Jam Exchange

OK everyone it's the first annual steph chows jam exchange!!!!


It seems like a good number of you would be interested in a jam exchange, which let me tell you, makes me VERY excited!!!! So lets get this bad boy rolling already! Here are the "rules"

1. You do NOT need to have a blog to participate! Everyone is welcome to join in!
2. You must be willing to mail 2 jars of any kind of jam your little heart desires to your given person.
   
3. You must sign up with me so I can make sure to pair you with someone! Email me at stephchows (at) gmail (dot) com with the following:
   Your name and address
   Blog URL if you have one (see rule 1... you DO NOT need one)
   If you would be ok with mailing internationally or if you want to stick domestic (USA) (totally ok either way you choose) I know we have a few peeps from Canada who are in to do this... I checked with the post office here and they said we can ship jam to our Canadian neighbors! I know we have a bunch of AUS readers too... and the post office says no issues with shipping jam to you either! All my other international friends... email me and I'll check and see if it's allowed to your country or not :) As for your country to here or somewhere else... I'm not sure about that one...
   I figure if you agree to ship international, I'll pair someone international to send back to you so it's a fair trade. (I know the USPS has flat rate international boxes... probably the cheepest way).
   
4. If you would like your jam included in the final roundup email me a picture of it and a link to a blog entry if you have one up, or just email me to let me know what you sent/received.

Deadline to send me your info: July 19th
I will contact you with your jam partner by July 26th
You have until August 11th to mail said jam to said person (why the 11th... because it's my birthday that's why LOL) You can mail as early as you like though, so if you have your jam ready to go on the 26th when I email you... go for it and mail it! Or if you are a procrastinator... wait till the 11th to mail it... either way works :) Just please make sure to mail it so no one is left out!

What's that? You've never made jam before? Well then this is a darn good excuse to learn right? Read more about my adventures in jammin' here.

OH and feel free to grab the image above and blog about the exchange to get the word out there and more peeps involved :) Or you can tweet about it... I know, I don't tweet, it scares me... but you can all do it :)

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“It must be jelly cuz jam don’t shake like that”

Today's post is brought to you by John :)

I don’t like to be forced into things. I like to do things, such as cook, when I damn well please. Well, to make 24/24/24 ‘quota’, Steph said that I “damn well better be pleased” last Saturday, because I was making something utilizing the blessed strawberry (at least it wasn’t that rhubarb nastiness). Well let me drop something on you: strawberries are (arguably) used in only 2 things: salads, and baked goods/desserts. For the uninitiated, the negative connotations here are ‘mixing fruit and vegetables’ (salad), and ‘time-consuming’ (baked goods). And, let’s be honest, sometimes the spirit is willing, but the flesh, well, the flesh wants to take a good ole nap every now and again.

I don’t know if my proximity to the ‘Jello Museum’ (I kid you not http://www.jellogallery.org/) in LeRoy, NY (about a 30 min drive, door to door) had any influence whatsoever, but sweet salvation came in the form of one Jell-O pie. Why is that, you might ask. A fair question. Because nothing says ‘simple’ like Jell-O pie.



Somewhere between “Fat Albert” and “Heathcliff Huxtable”, comedian/entertainer Bill Cosby was hawking all things Jell-O, big-time:



This particular commercial is hilarious for obvious reasons, but also quite apropos: I am pretty much an amalgamation of both kids in how I ‘relate’ to what Steph cooks; I will inhale it out of control, and then tease that she hasn’t made something in forever, even if it was last week :)=)

So I grabbed some strawberries, a box of fatfreesugarfree strawberry Jell-O, a nonfat strawberry yogurt, and some fatfreesugarfree cool whip. And a (purchased, pre-made) chocolate graham cracker crust (how’s that for full disclosure?). Now for the tough part. You throw all the ingredients into a blender, sans the crust and cool whip. I think I added some milk too. Oh yeah, Steph made the Jell-O for me first. So it was somewhat firm when I tossed it into the blender. Once blended, into a big bowl it went. Slowly mixed in cool whip, blending it with a thingy.. I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t a spoon. Save a little cool whip for garnish, if you so desire. Then pour into the graham cracker crust, and chill for like 4 hours I guess. Done & done.

Postscript: Oh! Oh, how they raved!! Actually it was pretty good; the real strawberries made for unbelievable taste. And the title of this blog? Just a hilarious quote my buddy Paul says that I remembered when thinking about how Jell-O wiggles, or weebles wobbles (but doesn’t fall down). Who knew it was a song, done up by the one and only Glenn Miller Orchestra here (this is AWESOME).



I need this at my wedding.

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Boot Rear

It's summer, that means its root beer float season.

Enjoy :D


You're probably wondering about the pun in the title... In middle school my friends and I used to read this book series that was far more mature then our little minds knew at the time (man the innuendos that went over my head!) anyway in the books they had this stuff called Boot Rear... tasted like, you guessed it, root beer. The twist was you'd get the sensation of a kick to the rear every time you took a sip... And now you all know I'm a gigantic dork... I just felt like sharing... anyone else ever read the Xanth series?

*crickets*

yeah that's what I figured :D

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Vegan Brownies

This brownie recipe was suggested to me by the Special K Treatment the other day. A very interesting brownie if you check out the ingredient list... chick peas... maple syrup... a banana... cashew butter?? Really?? In brownies???

Not to be easily scared off by interesting ingredients I went to the cupboard to discover I had everything I needed to make them. A short time later I had everything all set in the mixing bowl ready to go.


I must say they looked a bit more inviting in the mixing bowl then when they were done cooking. Since there is nothing to leaven these they are flat as can be. I'd suggest baking them in a smaller pan instead of an 8x8 to give them some more height... there is something about a wicked thin brownie... I want a thick one!


I unfortunately only had peanut butter on hand and was out of cashew butter, I really think the cashew would have upped the flavor on these (as she says). The banana seemed to overwhelm things a little too much for my tastes. I'm curious about using prune puree instead of the banana... All in all a fun experiment... but I want to switch a few things up and give it another go! Thanks Special K for the recipe recommendation!!

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Everyone loves sandwiches

My sister always says "everything tastes better between two slices of bread" well Jen, this one is for you, because I couldn't agree with you more :)


It's a wicked fast and delicious lunch if you ask me. All you need is a nice ciabatta roll, a fresh ball of mozzarella, a nice juicy tomato, and some fresh picked basil from the garden. Add a little salt and pepper to taste, stack it up, drizzle a little olive oil on and grill away!


I don't have a panini press... just a grill pan. How do I flatten it you ask? I used a frying pan and a bottle of wine as a press LOL, then I flipped it and pressed the other side :)

Please do not try and bite your computer screen... I know you were trying :)

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NTTC WINNER!!!

I WON I WON I WON!!!! The NTTC seaweed salad I made won! OK there were only 3 people who entered... but I'm still excited!



"I hereby award you the SPOONBEARER BADGE. Wear it proudly and keep making the world a healthier place, one recipe at a time!"

How freaking cool is that!?

You can read all about it here :)

She just announced the July NTTC challenge too. Check it out!

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