Tasty Tidbits

How was everyone's week? It seemed like a busy week for us, even though in reality we didn't have a lot going on. We were in the usual work/eat/sleep mode. The Bup's schedule changed & so this week just felt strange because our routine was off. Plus we were recooperating from the shower renovation of last weekend! I'm still stepping on random pieces of plaster that appear from thin air. Where are they coming from!?

On Monday night, we watched Breaking Dawn: Part 1. (Yes, we're way behind on our movie watching!) I liked the Twilight books & movies, from a pure entertainment stand point. There were many parts of the movie where we joked about how cheesy it was. I was in shock with how thin they made Bella during her pregnancy! I googled it, though, & Kristen Stewart was not required to loose all that weight. Whew! Thank goodness for CGI.

Here's what we've been eating in the last week:

Breakfasts

• Whole Wheat Sourdough Pancakes
• Yogurt with a variation on my Millet & Oat Granola
• Cereal: Puffed Millet, Puffed rice & Puffed Kamut with vanilla almond milk on it.
• Zucchini Overnight oats: 1/2 c rolled oats, 1/3 c almond milk, 1 tsp. chia seeds, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 c shredded zucchini
• Angela's Oil-Free Chocolate Zucchini Walnut Muffins - These turned out really well! They were quick & simple to make. I think I should have increased the baking time slightly, to fully cook the zucchini, but they're still yummy! (Note: The recipe says it makes 12, but I ended up with 20 muffins.)
• Fresh fruit: peaches, canteloupe, banana

Lunches

• Leftovers
• Sandwiches
• Raw zucchini w/ marinara dipping sauce
• Trail mix (spelt pretzels, dried apples, dried cranberries, cashews, choc chips)
• Angela's Oil-Free Chocolate Zucchini Walnut Muffins
• Jessica's Sweet Corn & Roasted Jalapeno Hummus with carrot sticks & spelt pretzels
• Apples, plums, canteloupe, pineapple

Dinners

Sunday:

• Curried Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Monday:

• Grilled provolone cheese sandwiches on whole wheat sourdough bread
• Guacamole with cherry tomatoes & Trader Joe's sweet potato tortilla chips (the best!)

Tuesday:

• Pesto pasta with zucchini & tomatoes (We loved this. I made it at random, but afterwards I tried writing down all the ingredients so I can re-create it. Hopefully then I'll have a recipe for you!)

Wednesday:

• Make Your Own Salad Bar w/ friends - mixed greens, tomatoes, bell pepper, red onion, apple, strawberries, sunflower seeds, avocado, tortilla strips, croutons - and wine, of course!

Thursday: We had Dad was over for dinner since Mom's visiting my aunt.

• Grilled pizza - like these but with some different toppers (marinara sauce, zucchini, chard, onions, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, & olives)
• Salad with Brittany's Honey Mustard Dressing (I reduced the olive oil & added more vinegar - we love a good kick to our salads. This was delicious, as it had a nice creamy quality without being heavy.)

Friday:

• Rehearsal dinner for my brother-in-law's wedding!

Desserts

• Mama Pea's Vegan Almond Joy Cookie Bars - These are delicious!!! I liked them better the day after they were baked. The flavors seemed to meld after they sat a little.

Dinner & a Movie

Mom called me on Saturday morning because their evening plans had fallen through.

"Do you want to go with Dad & I to Lisa's Cafe for dinner & then to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? And before you decide, we gave a gift card so dinner is our treat."

Ummm...yes, please. I was just planning an exciting evening of Charmed on Netflix.

I love the salads at Lisa's, mainly because they come with this delicious breadstick. Yum! I got the tossed salad with Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing. I usually like vinaigrettes & wasn't expecting this to be creamy, but it was good!

Mom & I split the large vegetarian stromboli. They were nice enough to split it onto 2 plates, so that's half. Holy cow that was a lot of stromboli!! It was delicious, stuffed with crisp veggies & mozerella cheese, with a side of marinara sauce for dipping. I ate the piece on the left & saved the rest for lunch.

Oh, and those brown squiggles of cheese on the top? They were SO good.

Mom also got a side of asparagus, which she shared.

The Bup got the small vegetarian stromboli for himself, & it was the same size as mine! He, of course, ate the whole thing. No surprise there!

For dessert, Mom & I split a chocolate biscotti. It didn't seem like it was baked after they sliced it like biscotti usually is, but it was still yummy. We didn't have time for coffee, so it was probably better that it was soft & didn't need to be dipped.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was intense. We saw the Swedish version about a year ago & I read the book, so nothing was really a surprise. The intro was very artistic but super bizarre. It was fun to go to the movies since we rarely go. I think the last one we saw was Harry Potter!

Did any of you see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? What did you think? Did you like the intro?



Birthday Dinner

A few notes & a cupcake recipe from my birthday:

1. Tuesday night was spent prepping cupcakes to bring to work. I finished this messy task at 10:15pm by splitting a giant-leftover batter-not quite baked through-chocolate chip cupcake topped with a whole lot of icing with the Bup. Yum!

2. It rained on my birthday. All. Day. Long. I went roller blading anyway & barely got wet. I'll show that rain!

3. The Bup left me notes on star shaped Post-Its. My favorite was on the door heading to the garage: "Wait! You forgot your halo!" O:-)

4. All 24 cupcakes disappeared before 5pm. Most were gone before noon. Guess my co-workers like cupcakes! (see below for recipe)

5. We had Zesty Wheat Berry-Black Bean Chili, salad, and bread for dinner, prepared by the Bup. The secret's out, my love, now I know just how well you can cook!

6. After dinner, it was still raining. We went for a walk anyway & got soaked. I think the rain showed us this time.

7. Avocados were on sale for $1, so we made a trip to the store.

8. While we were out, we got ice cream, the perfect birthday treat!

9. There was some pumpkin to puree. Now I have 5 1/2 cups of puree in the fridge to eat! YES!

10. We saw Tangled for the first time & LOVED it. I think the Disney movies have been going downhill since all the Princess classics, but this one was excellent!

11. After all this cake & ice cream, I think I need to go back to green veggies & smoothies for awhile. I even found a great post for a great assortment of go-to healthy foods!

Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes adapted from Can You Stay for Dinner? 

Makes 24 cupcakes

3 c white whole wheat flour

1 ½ c granulated sugar

1 T + 1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

8 T unsalted butter, melted

1/2 c unsweetened applesauce

1 cup reduced fat sour cream

4 T ground flax seed OR 4 T chia seeds, mixed with 3/4 c water* - let set for a few minutes before using

1 T + 1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 c mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Line two 12 cup standard sized cupcake tin with paper liners.

Using an electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add melted butter, applesauce, sour cream, flax/chia eggs, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula and continue to mix until no lumps remain. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.

Evenly divide the batter among the cups in your prepared pan. Bake until cupcake tops are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan carefully and let them cool on a wire rack.

*Note: You can use 4 large eggs instead, but then you lose the health benefits of the flax/chia.

Peanut Butter Icing/Filling

1 T butter, room temperature

1/3 c natural peanut butter

3 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2-4 T milk, or more if needed

Using an electric mixer, beat together butter & peanut butter. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, alternating with vanilla & milk, until you reach desired consistency. It should be spreadable, not runny.

Chocolate Icing

4 T butter

1/2 c cocoa powder

3 c powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2-4 T milk, or more if needed

　

Using an electric mixer, beat butter until smooth. Add cocoa powder & mix in. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, alternating with vanilla & milk, until you reach desired consistency. It should be spreadable, not runny.

To stuff the cupcakes

Note: You will probably have leftover icing. I had about 1 cup of peanut butter icing left over. You can freeze it to use at another time. Or eat it with a spoon. Your choice, I won't judge! :-)
: Fill a pastry bag with peanut butter icing. Stick the tip into the middle of the top of the cupcake and gently push down. Squeeze out icing as you pull up until you see it peak out the top. Then ice the cupcake with chocolate icing either with the icing bag or using a knife.

 

Mmmm cake!

Some days you just need cake. 

So I made some. Excuse: My parents are coming for dinner tomorrow.

In my defense, I invited them to come tonight but they had meeting and chiro appointments and all that silly stuff. I forgot to tell them about the cake or they might've cancelled all that.

Sorry Mom & Pops, I tried to stop him. We had to dig in without you. At least I convinced him to let me cut it first. We'll try to save you a few pieces.

Here it is: dense, moist, & oh-so-chocolatey with a hint of sweet. Enjoy!


Chocolate Pumpkin Cake
adapted & changed from bread to cake from Carrotsncake.com

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 flax egg (1T ground flax + 2.5 T hot water)
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Preheat the oven to 325*F. Grease and flour two 8" round cake pans. Mix flax egg and let sit for about 5 minutes. Combine all ingredients in bowl of an electric mixer and beat until combined. Beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Divide batter evenly between pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Invert onto cooling racks. Cool completely before icing and stacking.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Icing
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-4 T almond milk

Beat together first 4 ingredients with an electric mixer until combined. Add milk 1 T at a time until it reaches a spreadable consistency.

 We did eat dinner first. Chili, a quesadilla twist on these, and carrot sticks. The Bup is scraping and shining our dining room floor so we took dinner into the living room. I don't love eating on tables that are level with my chin, which is what always happens when I sit on a couch with a tray table. The food was still good but the movie we followed it with wasn't. Sleeping With the Enemy was creepy. I was proud of Julia Roberts' character for getting away but her husband was eerie. I hate thinking that people live with abuse like that.

Earlier I made the Banana Bread with Chocolate and Crystallized Ginger from Orangette. 

It was super easy, aside from chopping the ginger. Man that stuff is sticky!

I made muffins instead of bread because the Bup like muffins for breakfast best. He's spoiled, what can I say.