Edamame Chicken Wraps

Made these wraps over the weekend for our Duffy cruise in Newport Harbor. Easy and delicious...this would actually fall into the category of semi-homemade. All ingredients were all picked up at Trader Joe's. This came from my sister-in-law who got it from their in-store demo:

1 box of Just Chicken
1 pack of flat bread
1 pack of Baby Spring Mix salad
1 pack of Parisian cucumbers - sliced
1 med tomato - diced
Champagne vinaigrette dressing
1 box of Edamame Hummus

Toss salad, cucumbers, and tomatoes with dressing. Spread edamame hummus on flat bread. Wrap with desired tossed green salad and chicken. Enjoy!

Healthier Pancakes

These were made with apple sauce and soy milk. I used a basic pancake recipe and substituted apple sauce for oil & sugar and soy milk instead of regular milk:

Ingredients:
1 C flour
1 Tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg beaten
1 C soy milk
2 Tsp applesauce

Directions:
1. Mix flour, baking powder, and salt
2. In another bowl, combine egg, milk, and apple sauce
3. Add liquid ingredients to dry, stirring until combined. Let mixture rest for 30 seconds
4. With a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour onto greased skillet (I used a mist of olive oil)
5. Cook until bubbles appear on surface and flip.

Extra Credit:
I like to add mini chocolate chips, coconut shavings or sliced bananas.

Raspberry Merlot Brownies

I concocted this for a party we went to over the weekend.  It was inspired by a cupcake I had a couple weeks ago...more on that later, here's the recipe I'd like to share:

Raspberry Merlot Brownies

2 sticks butter

7oz  semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 ¾ cups light brown sugar

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup merlot

2 cups frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Melt butter and chocolate over low heat (stir until smooth).  Beat sugar and eggs until smooth.  Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, merlot and chocolate.  Stir well.  Pour into pan lined with parchment paper.  Sprinkle raspberries on top.  Bake 50 minutes. 

Back to the inspiration.  I went cupcake tasting in Santa Barbara a couple weekends ago with my friend Tania.  We tasted all kinds of goodies from Alison of Sugar Cat Studio - Winner of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network.  Alison is super nice and her cupcakes are to die for!  If you're ever in the Santa Barbara area, make sure you stop off at one of the retail locations that sells her cupcakes.  Check out her website for all the different flavors.  Anyway, we got to taste 6 different cupcakes and my favs were the White Chocolate Coconut, Blackberry Syrah, and Cookies & Cream. I happened to have an opened bottle of merlot when I baked the brownies and thought why not. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. It turned out very good : )

Tomato Spinach Quinoa Salad

I was at Farmers Market over the weekend and someone was selling a quinoa salad. I almost bought some and then realised I had some at home in the pantry. This is a very simple and quick preparation. Cook your quinoa and set aside. I added juice from 1/2 of a lemon, chopped sundried tomatoes, 1/4 bag of frozen chopped spinach (defrost in microwave), and tossed with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Next time, I think I try TJ's just chicken, curry powder, and some mango chunks. Sounds good doesn't it?

Pom

My parents tree is producing a lot of fruit this year. I came home with 2 re-usable bags full of these lovely pomergrantes. I shared some with my neighbors with plenty left. I usually cut them and peel under a large bowl of water to prevent spraying. But today, I remember seeing an episode of Martha Stewart Living where she got the seeds out but tapping the skin with a wooden spoon! Here's the video clip with the

founder of POM.

I plan on juicing and putting it in the freezer for later use.

There's a ton for recipes on POM Wonderful's website. I can't wait to try the:

POM Sorbetto

Coconut Cupcakes

I make these a couple times a year, and every time it's a hit. I fell in LOVE with coconut cupcakes years ago when I used to work in Santa Barbara. My co-work Deb would make a batch a couple times each year and bring it in for all to enjoy. I really never even considered trying it, but everyone said I had to, even for someone who doesn't particularly like coconuts, I was an instant fan. Deb made her using Ina Garten's, aka Barefoot Contessa, recipe. Very good, calling for lots of sugar, butter and eggs = 774 per cupcake!

While listening to Good Food on KCRW (local LA NPR radio station), I heard about an interview with LA Times writer Noelle Carter about Auntie Em's. He even included the recipe in his article. So I gave that a try. Tastes pretty darn close to Ina Garten's. It calls for oil instead of butter and less eggs = 463 per cupcake. The recipe yields 18, but I always come out with 20. Mine are probably a wee bit less since I use low fat cream cheese for the frosting.

Banana Carrot Bread

The Piggie and I made this lovely banana carrot bread over the weekend. I found the recipe on Preetys Kitchen blog. I modified it with 1 ½ cups of carrots and 2 mashed bananas. I didn’t have plain apple sauce on hand, but did have a small cup of raspberry applesauce I found in the refrigerator. This is a dense and moist loaf. We're enjoying it very much.

Multi-Grain Blueberry Muffins

I got my most recent copy of Real Simple magazine in the mail a couple days ago. While thumbing through, I came across this Multi-Grain Blueberry muffin. It only has 189 calories per muffin and can keep in the freezer for up to 1 month. So I made a batch last night and they were delicious. I had most of the ingredients in my pantry, I just had to get some plain non fat yogurt and frozen blueberries. It worked out to be $0.40 per muffin.

I was planning to link the recipe from Real Simple Magazine, but they haven't posted it yet, so here it is:
1 1/4 C whole wheat flour, spooned & leveled
1 C old fashion rolled oats
1/4 C flaxseed meal
1/4 C pecans (I didn't use nuts in mine)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt (I used TJs sea salt)
1 C plain non fat yogurt
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
3 Tsp unsalted melted butter
1 T grated orange zest, plus 1/4 C orange juice
1 lg egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 C fresh blueberries or one 8-oz bag frozen blueberries.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.  In a food processor, process flour, oats, flaxseed meal, pecans, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until finely ground.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, butter, orange zest & juice, egg, and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture & mix until incorporated.  Fold in blueberries.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.  Bake until tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 22-25 mins.

Muffins will keep at room temp for 3 days, and in freezer for 1 month - warm in mircowave 1-2 mins

I added 1/2 tsp of almond extract in a second batch and it makes it even more kid friendly.

Hearts for Dinner

The little Piggie is actually really good at eating her veggies. We don't have to do much to get her to eat corn or peas. She started really diggin on broccoli after reading "Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli" by Barbara Jean Hicks. We met the author last year at Santa Babara's Children's Books Festival and got a signed copy. Last night, I got an email from my sister-in-law about using muffin tins for feeding toddlers and got a little inspiration. I usually serve the kids their dinner in one of these slotted trays from Target. This time I used my heart shaped cookie cutter for her sandwich. She was DELIGHTED!

Veggie "Cupcakes" (Muffins)

I made Dana's (MADE) Veggie Muffins over the weekend for the kiddos. I made a couple modifications: 2C shredded carrots, 2 bananas, and a little less than 1C of sugar. They were delicious!

Super Duper Easy BBQ Baby Back Ribs!

This was last night outside of my house as I'm waiting to pull dinner out of the oven.

And this was dinner!  Yeah, you read that right, out of the oven not on the grill.  I came across this super easy fool proof recipe online a few months ago when I googled BBQ ribs.  This is awesome because I can put it in the oven with only 5 mins of prep time and get this delicious mouth watering slab of meat in less than 1 1/2hrs.  Seriously.  I've done this almost once every other week and finally remember to take a picture before eating it.  HUGE THANKS to Becks over at Delish for posting this recipe.  I used Emeril's Essence as a rub with the salt and pepper.

How to eat your vegetables

I saw this healthier zucchini bread recipe on Prudent Baby come through this week and was anxious to give it a try.  It was easy and delicious.  Definitely worth a try. 

At my neighbors suggestion, I picked up some of Trader Joe's pizza dough last night for $1.29 each.  I've been diggin on thin crust pizzas these days, so I only used 1/2 of the dough to make a nice veggie pizza for lunch today.  Instead of rolling it out, I just stretched out the dough to fit inside my ceramic baking pan.  I used marinara sauce and cut up some veggies I had lying around.

In my oven, I had to bake for 16 minutes to get it golden and crispy.  I think the instructions on the package said 12 minutes.  I know generally when baking with ceramic dishes, you gave to go a little longer than a metal baking sheet.  I got mine a few years ago at a Pampered Chef party.

I don't know what took me so long to try this!

Martha's Mac & Cheese

I made a modified version of Ina Garten's Mac & Cheese on Sat for a potluck at my girlfriend's house. It was a huge hit. Too bad I didn't save any for my hubby...I honestly thought I would have left overs! With left over ingredients, I tried Martha Stewart's Mac & Cheese this morning. It sure photograph well : ) Await the taste test from the family.

I got a food processor finally!  It made life sooo much easier not having to grate the cheese by hand.  What took me so long???  I got mine on-sale from Macy's 4th of July Sale for $69.99!  They're also having a special that if you donate $3 for a book charity, they'll give you a $10 gift card.  So my processor was only  $62.99 before tax.  That's a great deal considering it retails for $149.99.

Tangled and Some

No, not the movie...My son keeps getting is foot stuck in the slats of his crib.  He hasn't woke up screaming yet, I just keep noticing it when I check on him through out the night.  I used left over foam from my daughter's bumper I made last year and made a quick cover to attach to the crib.

I also managed to make a couple re-usable snack pouches.  I see these all over the Internet.  I actually contemplated on buying a couple at Toys R Us yesterday but decided I have enough scraps to make some.  I lined fabric with Zip Lock freezer bags and Velcro closure on the top.  These were basic pouches and makes me feel better that I can re-use them.

Again, with the weather getting warmer, the kids are starting to wear tank tops.  Seat belt straps are very uncomfortable.  I honestly don't know what happened to the ones I made a year ago...so I had to make new ones for the car seats for the kiddos.  I just cut out 5 x 5.5 inch squares and fold them over.  I did back the fabric with pre-made quilted fabric to give it more padding instead of batting - which I didn't have any on hand.

Last week I made Real Simple's Pasta Carbonara and Italian Sausage.  This recipe was in one of my old magazines..I think it was from a couple years ago.  It was very easy to make and very yummy. 

Catching up from April

With my sister's wedding coming right around the corner, and a whole mess of other social commitments...I've been really behind on posting.  I've made a bow tie for my son to wear at my sister's wedding in June. I actually made 2. The first one here was a little too bulky for my son, he's super petite.

I've been cooking too!  I love quiches and like many things I love, I'm starting to realize I can make.  Using a basic quiche recipe from Real Simple Magazine I clipped out years ago.

 Here is another basic quinoa cooked in chicken stock topped with balsamic vinegar roasted butternut squash with spinach & ricotta stuffed chicken breast.

French Macaroons at Bakelab

Yesterday in celebration of my friend Tania's birthday, we spent the afternoon at the Bakelab learning how to make french macaroons!

We were partnered up 2 per workstation.  

Here's our ingredients set out for us to measure out.

This is an industrial sized food processor.  We hand to process the almond meal with the powered sugar to get a fine consistency.

 This is the marshmallow-y texture you need to get the meringue whipped to before adding the almond meal and powdered sugar.

 Then you just fold the mixture and pipe onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

 This is Kristin, our teacher and owner of Bakelab.  She was great.  Not only did she teach/show us how to bake, but educated us on the science of how baking works with these little delicate treats.  Besides macaroons, she does classes for a number of different treats.  You can check them out on her website.

 And here's our cookies out of the oven...

 on the rack to cool off.

For the sake of time, Kristin pre-made the chocolate ganache and brought a jar of strawberry preserves for us to sandwich.

I feel very confident that I can turn out a batch at home.  Can't wait to try it : )