Winner and the Weekend

Does anyone have a recipe for German Cinnamon Twists? I'm suppose to make some this weekend and am having trouble finding an authentic German recipe. The person says you twist them into bow ties or infinity shapes?? Anyone??? Help please!

Now for the Skinny Bitch Book of Vegan Swaps winner! And the winner picked by random.org is... Expedition Eat (Dina K). I'll be emailing you today to get your mailing address.

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Perfect Pancakes

I finally found it. The holy grail of pancake recipes. I've made a lot of tasty ones, but they tend to end up flat... these however are thick, hearty, stick to your ribs good. Filled with whole grains and a little sweetness, these things have become a Sunday staple in our house. No need to try any more recipes because this one is gold!! My photo however is not so gold.. whoops...

Oat and honey pancakes
recipe from The CarbLovers Diet Cookbook (I know I've been cooking like made from it)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used 1 tsp)
2 Tbs honey (I used agave nectar... it's easier to squeeze out and measure, i'm lazy!)
1 Tbs sugar (I used splenda)
2 cups low fat milk (I used fat free)
2 large eggs
2 Tbs veg. oil

Place flours, wheat germ, oats, baking powder, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in a food process, go till combined. Whisk together honey, sugar, milk, eggs, oil in a large bowl. Stir in flour until well combined. Let stand 5 minutes. Cook um up and dig in!

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24x24 Shrimptastic

Yummmmmm!!! That is all.

(Riesling poached Shrimp with Citrus Slaw)

Ok ok I have more to say than that, but seriously. Wouldn't you be saying that too if you got to make and eat all this:

(Beer battered shrimp with cajun marmalade)

(Shrimp Vol au Vents with Mushrooms)

(Scampi style shrimp & Garlic Fettuccine Alfredo)

(Coconut crusted shrimp with mango-curry chutney)

(Amaretto shrimp) - somehow I missed taking a picture of the crab cake stuffed shrimp, those were GOOD!

Thanks to Foodbuzz, I got to participate in another 24x24. This time with Chef Tom and his mad shrimp identifying and cooking up skills. (sounds pretty impressive eh?)

Here he is showing Beth how to make bloody mary bread sticks (they have tomato paste and celery salt in them- and yes he's using a pasta machine to cut them into shape).

The class was at the NY Wine and Culinary Center, which is all about sustainability, keeping it local, and educating the public about all things delicious. I also learned that they are a not for profit last night, who knew!?

Some interesting facts I learned during class:

• The most common shrimp you'll find in the US are black tiger shrimp, most of which are farm raised in south east asia. This means they have a more mild flavor due to their pellet food eating as apposed to wild shrimp that get to live it up in the ocean.
  
• Shrimp aren't classified by size, it's by a count range, aka the number of them you get in a lb. 13-15's are larger than 90-100s...oh come on it's not hard math.
  
• There are things called U4's - that means under 4 per pound, talk about serious fatty fatty 2x4s!!
• The texture of shrimp doesn't change with their size.. you might think those little ones are tougher, but nope, you're probably just cooking the crap out of them. Stop that by the way. Shrimp don't take long to cook, only a few minutes per side in a pan, anymore than that and your eating rubber... bleh.
  
• Reason why you can't refreeze things after thawing: The shrimp are commercially IQF (individually quick frozen) which is taking their temp down to freezing in 20 minutes flat, so ice doesn't form the same way as when you do it at home. At home they are freezing slowly and all those little moisture particles are forming into ice shards, tearing apart the insides of your not so tender anymore, shrimp. Re-freezing: don't do it.

Now I know you all want some of those recipes from class right? Here were my top two favorites:

Amaretto Shrimp - I got to make this one!!
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbs amaretto (lets face the facts, I used a much larger amount)
1 1/2 Tbs honey
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
pinch cayenne
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together and set aside

For the shrimp we used 24 large raw shrimp (peel and deveil, leave tail on)
1 1/2 cups cornstarch seasoned with salt and pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped toasted almonds for garnish

Dredge shrimp and shake off excess cornstarch. Heat a large saute pan over high heat until hot. Add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan. Sear shrimp on both sides until shrimp is pink and just begin to curl. Remove from pan and place in bowl, toss with amaretto sauce and chopped nuts.

Coconut shrimp with Mango-Curry Chutney
Chutney (this stuff was AMAZING, the spice kinda knocked my socks off)
1 Tbs red onion finely chopped
1 cup finely chopped mango
1 Tbs fresh lime juice
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp minced jalapeno
1 clove garlic minced
2 Tbs fresh cilantro
2 tsp toasted curry powder

Saute onion in a small amount of oil, add rest of ingredients and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and set aside.

Shrimp
1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined, tail on
salt as needed
2 cups coconut
2 Tbs flour
2 egg whites, lightly whisked

Season shrimp with salt on both sides. In a small bowl combine the coconut and flour. Dip shrimp in egg then dredge in coconut mixture. Fry in hot oil until golden. Drain on paper towels. Serve with chutney.

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Tastes like Spring

Spring has sprung everywhere it seems. Upstate NY normally has snow in March, but not this year! This year we have 80 degree weather and sun! (anyone else scared what summer is going to be like???) To celebrate Frigidaire is sponsoring bloggers to post their favorite spring time recipes. For me spring means fresh berries start showing up and all I want to do with them is make some JAM! It's the perfect time to jar up all the spring and summer goodness so you can enjoy it for the rest of the year.

Do you like making jam? Want to be part of my annual jam exchange? (here's last years round up post) Just email me at stephchows at gmail.com and I'll add you to the email list and let you know once signups start!

Even though we've been having record high temps, berries haven't sprung just yet here locally, so I had to buy berries at the supermarket, don't worry though, they will still turn into delicious jam for us. I was going to get strawberries since those are normally the first berries I pick each year, but the ones at the market weren't looking so great, and definitely not sweet (more like gigantic not so ripe berries). The most important part about jam making is to start with something good, if the fruit isn't good... don't waste your time.

Since the strawberries were a bust I went with raspberries, they are my favorite jam to make, and the easiest, no pectin packages needed, so if this is your first time making jam it will be easy!

Raspberry Jam
6 cups mashed raspberries
6 cups sugar
jam jars with new lids and rings

First thing to do is gently wash and dry your berries, this is especially important if you picked them yourself... although spiders add protein... I'd rather not have any in my jam.

Next you put them all in a big bowl and mash them a bit with a potato masher (or your hands).

Using a large pot, stirring constantly, heat 6 cups mashed berries over medium high heat until they reach a full rolling boil (bubbles still happen even as you stir)

Boil 2 minutes (keep stirring- don't stop!)

Add 6 cups sugar

Keep stirring constantly

Bring back to a boil, stirring constantly (did I say this enough), boil for 2 more minutes.

Remove from heat

The final step is processing your jars. If you plan on making a small batch and putting it all in the refrigerator you can skip this step, however if you plan on mailing your jam to someone or keeping them in the pantry for winter time... this step is a must.

Pour your still hot jam in sterilized jars and seal with lids and rings. (you can sterilize the jars by boiling them for 10 minutes)

Place sealed jars into boiling water for 10 minutes (use your jar tongs don't just drop them in)

Remove from water and let cool overnight, do not bump them while they cool.



This post was sponsored by Frigidaire. When you check out Suzanne Goin's springtime recipes at www.maketimeforchange.com, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children's U.S. programs. Plus, you'll be entered for a chance to win the new Frigidaire Range with SymmetryTM Double Ovens – featuring two large ovens (that can each fit up to a 28 pound turkey!), providing the flexibility to cook multiple dishes at the same time at different temperatures, so you can get more on the table at the same time.

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Wolfgan's BBQ chicken pizza

Otherwise known as man pizza if you ask me. I'm being stereotypical but I think just about any man would love this creation... ok fine, and probably every woman, I LOVED it. Sunday morning before I headed to the grocery store I handed John The CarbLovers Diet Cookbook and told him to pick what he wanted to for dinner. He immediately hands down wanted this, period. No more looking necessary.

To make it even easier we used a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking and cubing our own. Super fast and perfect with some home made bruschetta on the side. John literally stopped eating and clapped because this was so good, HA!

Wolfgang Puck's BBQ Chicken Pizza
recipe from The CarbLovers Diet Cookbook

2 tsp olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced yellow and red bell peppers
1 lb refrigerated pizza dough (we used whole wheat)
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup fontina cheese (we used sharp cheddar)
1.5 cups cooked chicken breast cubed (I used a rotisserie chicken and shredded the meat)
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley

Cook the peppers in olive oil and roll out your dough. Top dough with peppers and cheese. He has you bake it for 12 minutes at 500 and cook the chicken separate, then top the pizza with it. I shredded the chicken, tossed it with the BBQ sauce and put it all onto the pizza and into the oven at the same time. Top with parsley once out of the oven.

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Skinny B*tch - vegan swaps - Giveaway

I'm participating in the TLC book tour again, this time reviewing Skinny Bitch Book of Vegan Swaps. As you know I'm not vegan but don't shy away from baking and cooking vegan now and then. I was expecting this book to give advice on things like using ground up cashews to thicken soup stocks, or how to use flax seeds ground up with water instead of an egg when baking... although there were a few tips like this in the book, the majority is a list of brand name products that are vegan... but taste like meat...

Don't get me wrong I LOVE me some "chikin" chickpea patties, and agree they do taste like chicken nuggets, but for me when I cook vegan it's not about making things taste like the meat version of things, it's about using natural healthy ingredients to make delicious meals. When I want meat.. I just eat meat... everything in moderation as I say. The main purpose of this book is for us carnivores who want to go vegan, but still want the taste of meat without eating it. Again, in my world, not something I'm game for, but if you want to go vegan and still feel like you have the same tasteful options as a meat eater, this book will be helpful and a great guide to start you off.

One thing I think is very important to note, the author does make sure to pick healthier swaps, aka no long lists of things you can't pronounce. This is especially helpful considering there are so many vegan products out there that look more like a chemistry class list than an ingredients list.

In the end this book isn't very helpful for a person like me, but if you are thinking about going vegan on the weekends, or vegan full time, but are scared about craving a burger... give this book a try.

Now for the giveaway! Thinking about going vegan and need some inspiration? Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of your own! You can comment with anything you like or answer one of these questions. Would you ever "go vegan for the weekend" or for life? What was your biggest obstacle when you decided to do it? If you are vegan, do you like eating "meat tasting" products, or do you shy away from them?

Giveaway open to US/Canada. You have until March 26th at midnight to enter. One entry per person.

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PB oatmeal cookies - part 2

I said I'd get back to this recipe with some tweaks... and I did. Now this makes 24 cookies, delicious as before. I'm addicted to these things, no joke. Love love love. Perfect snack time food.

PB Oatmeal Chocolate Chippers
recipe by ::steph chows::
makes 24 cookies

In a medium bowl whisk together and set aside
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1.5 cups old fashion oats
1 tsp baking soda
dash of salt

In a large bowl beat together
1/3 cup smooth peanutbutter
2 tbs smart balance (or butter of choice)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup splenda (or use 1/3 cup white sugar)
then beat in 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry into wet, then add 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Using your hands (time to get dirty!) form into tablespoon size balls and then smoosh flat onto a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove and let cool.

What's your go to snack time food?

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Waffles and a winner

I've told you before I'm a breakfast for dinner kinda girl, but this past Sunday I felt the need to make waffles in the morning! I know I'm just so freakin exciting you don't know what to do with yourself. Ironically when I was a kid it was the opposite, I lived for the weekends because that meant if I let my dad sleep past the crack of dawn he'd make me whatever I wanted (if I woke him up before dawn I only got cereal... smart parental planning)! Crepes, waffles, pancakes, french toast, he was like a short order cook whipping up things for me, my mom, sister, and nana. Even though I'm a cereal in the morning kinda girl now I still look forward to waking up to my dad cooking breakfast when we go to visit them :) SIDE NOTE: this makes it sound like my mom never cooked, not at all the case, so no commenting in defense mom ;) love both of your cooking! :)

As for the Lipton giveaway the winner is.... Sarah B who likes her tea: "I'm a big fan of Chai tea. But right now I'm sipping on a peppermint tea with one sugar!" I'll send you an email in a bit to get your address! Thanks everyone for commenting!

What's your favorite breakfast treat?? What's your favorite if you're not the one cooking? Were you lucky enough to have great cooks for parents?


Whole-Grain Waffles
recipe from The CarbLovers Diet Cookbook

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 Tbs wheat germ
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 Tbs melted butter
1 Tbs pure maple syrup
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla

In separate bowls whisk together dry, and wet, then mix together until just combined (don't over mix) Coat a hot waffle iron with cooking spray and cook according to the irons directions. Stack high and drizzle on some pure maple syrup!

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Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffin Knock-Offs

My sister forwarded me a link she found on pinterest of these healthy muffins. Their photo looked AMAZING... my muffins in no way puffed up that much, and I got 16 instead of 12... next time I will try filling them to the tip top... even so, I think I had more than 12 muffins worth of batter. (UPDATE: the pinterest photo wasn't for the recipe... found the real recipe owner with different looking pictures here.)

I loved the muffins, puffed up or not and will be trying this again for sure! One other thing I wasn't sure about was she put all the ingredients together at once... which didn't seem to make sense to me since you need to make oat flour out of the oats... and getting them wet isn't going to make that easy. So I ground all the dry together and mixed the wet in a separate bowl and then mixed them. Might be another reason mine didn't puff as much?? Any suggestions??


Triple Chocolate Chunk Muffin Knock-Offs of Whole Food’s 6 Dollar per 4 Chocolate Chunk VitaTop Muffins
Thanks to an awesome reader I found out the recipe originally came from Dashing Dish

Ingredients:
1 3/4 c oats
3 egg whites
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (or regular plain low fat yogurt)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar (or 1-1/2 Tbsp. vinegar)
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup hot water
1 cup sugar substitute (like Splenda granular) OR 1/4 cup + 2 tbs stevia
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or use white chocolate or peanut butter chips!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line (12-cup) muffin pans with foil cupcake liners, or spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

In a blender, (or food processor), mix all of the ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips. Blend until oats are ground and mixture is smooth. (I did dry together, and wet in a separate bowl, then mixed them together)
Place mixture in a bowl and gently stir in 1/2 of the chocolate chips (set the rest aside). Scoop mixture into prepared muffin pans.
Place muffins tins in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove muffins from the oven (but don’t shut oven off), and distribute the other half of the chocolate chips on top of each muffin.
Place the muffins back into the oven and bake for an additional 2-5 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. *Note, you could skip this step by putting all of the chips in the batter, and baking the muffins for 12-15 min straight, but this method gives the muffins the traditional ‘VitaTop Muffin’ look with the chocolate chips on top!
Cool muffins before removing from pan. ENJOY!!!
Servings: 12 Big Muffins or 24 Smaller Muffins
Calories: 116 Calories Per Muffin or 58 Calories Per Muffin

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Coconut Date Ice Cream

I love coconut... I love dates... unfortunately this ice cream doesn't have a strong taste of either of these ingredients :( It was super easy to make. Boil the dates in some water, add that to a can of coconut milk, a dash of vanilla, blend it, cool it, then run it through an ice cream machine... but in the end I couldn't really taste the coconut flavor... maybe next time I'll add in some sweetened coconut flakes... I'll let you know how it goes :)



Have you made ice cream at home? Got a go to recipe you'd like to share with me? What's the weirdest flavor you've ever tried?

PS. Don't forget to enter my Tea Giveaway!

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Want to win a Lipton Gift Basket?

I do I do! Ok I didn't win one, but I GOT one from the wonderful people at Lipton because this girl here is one of their new tea tastemakers!! And the best part is YOU, one of my wonderful readers, get to win one! The basket includes: an electric tea kettle, 3 boxes of lipton tea, a travel tea tumbler, and a very cool bamboo tea box. Details on how to enter below.

I seriously drink at least 6 cups of tea a day at work, it's my lifewater. Just ask my boss, he always manages to page over to my desk when I'm in the kitchen heating up water. Best part, I don't need to use the microwave anymore because the gift basket comes with an electric tea kettle! I'm normally not a huge fruit flavor tea kinda girl, I'm a straight up green tea, nothing added gal, but I must say I'm really digging the green tea with goji and raspberry the best. It's a subtle taste, and has a really nice aroma. The mangosteen peach is perfect for you fruity tea lovers (it was a bit too peachy for me personally).

How to enter: Tell me how you like your tea: Sweet? With lemon? Straight up? (entries limited to US only, sorry my international peeps). You have until March 13th noon EST to enter.

This post was created in connection with my appointment as an Ambassador in the Lipton Tea Tastemaker Program. Visit www.facebook.com/lipton to join the conversation.”

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Blueberry Flax Muffins

If you didn't know it already, I LOVE muffins. I asked John what kind of baked goods he wanted this weekend and he requested blueberry muffins please, can do! These are the perfect snack with a nice warm mug of tea if I do say so myself. (that is precisely what I'm having as I type this)

How were your weekends? Do anything fun? We spent it pretty low key since Hobbes got spayed on Thursday. Poor thing has to wear the cone of shame now... In case you were wondering she spent the majority of the weekend walking into things and getting trapped... while I followed her around taking pictures to embarrass her with when she's an angstful teen. Awesome.

Blueberry Flax Muffins
recipe by steph chows

In a medium bowl mix together:
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup old fashion oats
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
dash salt

In a large bowl mix together:
6oz fat free yogurt (I used blueberry on the bottom variety)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup splenda (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Add 1.5-2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen) to the dry mix and then dump into the wet mixture. Stir until just incorporated, don't over stir. Bake in greased muffin pan (I used liners, they stuck to the muffins like MAD- don't make the same mistake)

Preheat over to 375 and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool and enjoy.

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Chocolate doughnut... muffins? With PB choco frosting

Bet that title got you drooling ehh? Side note, I've been saying ehh lately. I blame Jeanne. Cause she's Canadian and she writes it in her emails... which somehow has translated to me saying it. Maybe I just want to be Canadian or something? John goes nuts every time I let one slip LOL "why are you pretending to be Canadian?!?!" :D

Right... onto the doughnut muffins. I saw this on a blog and NEEDED to go home and make them. Only problem... I don't have a doughnut pan... so I tried making them as muffins, I increased the baking time... but they stuck like MAD to the pan... next time there will be liners. The tops had the perfect texture though, so I can see how making these shallower in a doughnut pan would be AMAZING. Either way, they tasted amazing, and I love her frosting, YUM! (as you can see above my muffin tops pulled off... so I put the frosting sandwich style under the tops, and then put a smear of coolwhip on top for flare.

She mentioned there not being enough batter to make 6... so I upped the nuts a bit and they filled 6 muffin tins to the top.


BAKED CHOCOLATE DOUGHNUTS
recipe by neverhomemaker

What you'll need . . .

1 cup rolled oats, processed into flour
1/2 cup cashews (processed with oats) (she used pecans and only 1/4 cup)
1/4 cup agave (she used maple syrup)
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch salt
1/2 cup skim milk (she used almond milk)
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 egg, (she used Ener-G egg replacer (plus required water) for one egg)

Method . . .

Preheat to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a mini bundt pan (or doughnut pan, if you have one).
Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Pour into five of the six bundts (I need to rework the recipe to make more -- trust me, it's so good, I'm making more today).
Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until slightly firm. Let cool in pan and then turn over to pop out.

Frosting:
Just use a fork to mix everything together in a small bowl:
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 Tbs splenda (she used 1/3 cup powdered sugar)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 to 2 tablespoons almond milk

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