Yesterday was John's birthday! (he wasn't born on a leap year so no chance of being a leap baby) Happy Day after your Birthday husband!! We celebrated this past weekend by going on lots of family time runs/hikes with Hobbes. We had a blast :) And Hobbes ended up looking like a gigantic snow ball.
What's your favorite way to celebrate your birthday? We went out for a nice dinner last night and I'm planning on cooking up a storm this weekend to keep the celebration going!
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My good friend Neva came to me with a very serious problem the other week. She had made homemade pretzels, but couldn't find anything good enough to dip them in! She she wrote me with a "Challenge!" and this video to explain exactly how she was saying it in her head. Hilarious!
So my darling Neva, I bring to you my soft pretzel recipe and a delicious garlic (since I KNOW you love it) mustard sauce. Delicious!
Did you all watch the Cosby show growing up? Had you seen this episode, I had not, but loved watching it. What's your favorite thing to dip soft pretzels in?? Garlicky Dijon Mayo 1 teaspoon rice vinegar 1 large garlic clove, minced 3 tablespoons mayo (or sub greek yogurt, it was delicious!) 1 1/2 teaspoons whole-grain Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
Combine vinegar and garlic in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in mayonnaise, mustard, and parsley. Set aside.
Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels INGREDIENTS: 1 tsp active dry yeast Pinch of sugar 1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees) 1/2 cup bread flour 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 2 Tbs white sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp baking soda 1 cup hot water (as hot as your tap can get) Sea salt or whatever other toppings you want
DIRECTIONS: Dissolve yeast into water with a pinch of sugar, let stand 10 minutes, until the mixture is creamy colored. Mix the yeast mixture with flour, sugar, salt and canola oil, and knead until combined (a few minutes, not even 5). Let the dough rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (We keep our place kinda cold (65) so I normally turn the oven on for a minute then turn it off and stick the bread in there to rise... otherwise it would take foreeeeeeeever to rise)
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. When the dough has risen, pinch off a handful and roll it out into a long strand. Set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough, about 6 times. Once all the strands are rolled out, pick up the first one and stretch it out again (the gluten will have relaxed and it should stretch further now). Twist it into a pretzel shape and place it on a baking sheet lined with silipat or cooking spray. Repeat with the rest of the strands.
Dissolve baking soda into hot water and stir until dissolved. Quickly dip each rolled pretzel into the mixture and place it back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle all the pretzels with sea salt, to your preference. Bake for about 8 minutes, until pretzels have browned. (Mine took 8 minutes then I dropped the temperature to 350 for an additional 4-5 minutes)
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So you might have noticed the lack of posting Wednesday... and the total lack of a food post today... you see my life has gotten a little more filled up time wise. Nights spent baking away are now being spent hanging out with this cute girl. And doing ridiculous things to her like making her wear my Warby Parkers and making John take pictures. Come on doesn't she look so studious in those things? Happy Friday! Hope these made you laugh or at least smile :) What do you have planned this weekend?? Hope it's fun!
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Who wants chocolate and peanut butter for breakfast!? I do I do! I saw these over on (neverhome)maker on Friday and promptly made up a batch Saturday. Yup it was one of those mmmm those look good, MUST MAKE NOW! Kinda recipes! I'm not sure if I did something wrong, or maybe baked them a bit too long, but mine were super crumbly. Still wicked tasty, but definitely not a bar you could eat in the car... unless you like crumbs everywhere :)
The only other thing I can think of is I used all natural PB, which tends to be a bit dryer than Skippy or Jiff (although I doubt Ashley used either of those, she's a pretty all natural kinda gal). Either way, I liked these, even if they were crumbly. Just grab a glass of milk and you're good to go. Oh another bonus for these, they are vegan!
PEANUT BUTTER HUG BARS recipe by (neverhome)maker What you'll need . . . 1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon Kosher salt 1-1/2 tablespoons flax meal mixed with 1/3 cup warm almond milk 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter 1/4 cup olive oil 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Method . . .
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8" x 8" baking pan with parchment (or grease lightly). In a small bowl, heat up almond milk in your microwave (or stove) until it's wrist temperature. Mix in the flax meal with a fork and let sit for a couple minutes until thickened. Set aside momentarily. In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, combine the olive oil and peanut butter. Then add the flax mixture. Add this wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until well moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips. Then pour mixture into your baking pan and flatten. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
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Peanut butter cups, they are a weakness. Leave me with a bag of them, and I will happily nibble my way through it in record time. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I made this recipe, I knew I'd just sit with a spoon and take little nibbles, oh just a tiny one here, and there, and.. huh... where did the jar go?? I wish this had more of a coffee flavor, perhaps next time I'll add in some more instant espresso powder than the recipe calls for, other than that. LOVE.
Mocha Peanut Butter recipe by Healthy Food for Living 1 1/2 cup dry roasted, unsalted peanuts, preferably organic 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips 1/8 -1/2 tsp canola oil (omit entirely for a thicker, less drizzle-able consistency) - that's what I did 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cocoa powder tiny pinch of Kosher salt 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder 2 tsp evaporated cane juice OR granulated sugar 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions Place peanuts into the bowl of a food processor. Process until peanuts break down into a paste, scraping down the sides as necessary, about 3-5 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the chocolate chips over a double boiler (set a heat-proof bowl over a pot with 1 inch of simmering water), and stir until fully melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
If you’re looking for a drippy consistency, start with adding just 1/8 tsp canola oil: with the motor of the food processor running, stream in the oil and process until a smooth butter forms. Add an additional 1/8-1/4 tsp if desired.
Spoon in the melted chocolate, and process until combined.
Add in the cocoa powder, salt, espresso powder, evaporated cane juice, and vanilla extract, and puree until well-combined.
What's your no self control treat of choice? PB and chocolate for me all the way!
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And the winner picked by random.org of The CarbLovers Diet Cookbook is.... Rebecca S. who said "Favorite food in the entire world is cheesecake. I hardly ever eat it since it is so terrible for you, but it's an awesome treat when I do eat it." I'll shoot you an email so I can get your address. Thanks everyone for entering!!
Speaking of cheesecake have you all tried my favorite cheesecake recipe ever?? It's an amaretto-amaretti chocolate cheesecake, and it's only 1/2 bad for you! But it tastes full on bad for you :) You can find the recipe here. You know you want to go make it!!
Do you like cheesecake? Do you prefer it Plain Jane, or do you like to mix in fun tasty things like this recipe does?
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John hates things with dates in them... unless I put them in the food processor so he can't tell. I was hoping to slip these past him and even chopped up the dates to be a bit finer than the rough cut called for in the recipe... alas, he noticed right away and went from thinking they were tasty, to down right rotten. Oh well, guess I'll have to eat this whole batch on my own... darn! ;)
Bake these for the sweetie in your life for Valentines Day, or bake them for yourself, I'm not judging, I bake for myself all the time! This is another recipe from The CarbLovers Diet Cookbook and you still have a chance to enter my giveaway over here to win a copy! I LOVE these cookies, yes they do have 6 tbs of butter in them (I used Smart Balance). But all in all they are a healthy whole grain, date filled cookie. They have a wonderfully crisp outside and a chewy center. You can click the image at the end for the original recipe or if you are like me... you can modify it as so :D
Replace 1/3 cup white flour with wheat flour. Instead of 3/4 cup brown sugar, I only used 1/3 cup brown, and added 1/3 cup splenda to the dry ingredients. Used Smart Balance instead of butter.
Do you sneak things into your partners food? I'm all about it! But I can never keep a secret, I always end up telling him.
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Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :) Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.
I'm not one to ever go on a "diet" I'm all about eating in moderation all the time... but when the people from The CarbLovers Diet Cookbook asked me to review their new cookbook... I was really intrigued. I mean come ON this blog does have an entire page dedicated to muffins... and John jokes that I basically am already on my own version of the carb lovers diet... hey I love carbs... what can I say??
I wouldn't necessarily suggest following the diet laid out, although reading through it, it wasn't bad. No cutting out entire groups of foods, it really is a "diet" teaching you to eat in moderation and choose HEALTHY carbs. This isn't a white bread and pasta diet people... so don't get your hopes up ;)
I WOULD suggest getting the book for all the delicious recipes though!!! You should see how many pages I have flagged with post-it notes.. no joke. I can't wait to share more with you!! But for today, I'm going to share the turkey meatballs. John inhaled these things, they were DELICIOUS! I mean how could you say no to THAT?? They said to serve it on whole wheat rolls, but I had this delicious whole wheat baguette laying around just screaming to be used for some sliders.
Now for the giveaway! You can win your very own copy! 150 mouth watering, delicious recipes!!! You know you want to enter :) (Open to US residents only, sorry my international peeps) Just leave a comment saying your favorite thing to eat, yup that's it. Easy cheesy.
You have until Tuesday at noon EST to enter. Good luck and happy eating!
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How was everyone's weekend? Did your team win the big game yesterday?? I only watch for the commercials ;) how about that... what was your favorite commercial?
Today I'm actually doing a guest post over at Sugarcrafter! Head on over and see the recipe for these tasty treats!
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Your email will never be displayed publicly, so don't be scared to comment! :) Oh and make sure you type in your blog link so I can click over to you! There is a spot you can type it in.
I love it when a meal looks like it took forever, when really it took 15 minutes total! I made this on a work night and when John pulled into the driveway and found this waiting for him on the table he was seriously impressed.
The secret are the muscles. I've never cooked them before and quite frankly they scare me. I bought these frozen in a butter garlic sauce from BJ's. Pop them frozen into a pan, heat for 5 minutes, cover and simmer for 3 minutes. DONE. I poured the butter garlic sauce off and added them along with some shrimp (fully cooked and frozen variety- just defrost first before adding) to wegmans diavola sauce. Boil up some whole wheat pasta and DONE. Dinner's on the table!! I'll have to let you know the brand next time I buy more of the muscles, since I just realized the cardboard box they came in is currently out at the curb in our recycle bin... and it's snowing out... so I'm not going out to look :D
What quick meals do you like to make? Give 'um up, I need ideas for dinner!!
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