A Sick Boy...

My guy has been sick the past couple of days :(  I don't know what it is, but if I'm sick...yeah it isn't fun. But, if he's sick...I'm so sad for him. So, this is what we had for dinner last night. Some "sick soup" and grilled cheese. "Sick Soup" is Lipton Noodle Soup out of a box, that my mom used to make me when I was sick. I love it when I'm sick, but don't like it so much when I'm not!

Then I felt bored after sick soup and grilled cheese.  So I made dessert. And it was good.  Real good.  There's Nutella in it.  Real good.

Basically, I pan seared some sliced pineapple in a little butter over high heat, until brown. Then I took a couple tablespoons of Nutella and about a tablespoon of milk or so and put it in the microwave for about 20 seconds.  Then I stirred it until combined.  I drizzled that over the pineapple and put little dollops of Mascarpone Cheese and chopped almonds on top. Mascarpone is totally optional but seeing as how I believe it is the greatest food product on earth, I would say...use it. You won't regret it.

Even sick boy ate a little. 

Happy Sunday!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

One word: YUM! I made these a over the weekend and they were so delicious!  I modified a recipe from Martha Stewart, which you can find here.   I didn't have cake flour and also didn't need 28. I frosted these cupcakes in cream cheese frosting, because that's my favorite.  Martha did hers in 7-minute frosting.  I would imagine 7-minute frosting would make it taste more like a snickerdoodle, because it's a little bland. However, I kind of hate 7-minute frosting, so I did cream cheese.  So, here's how I did mine:

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Makes 20 

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp corn starch

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup butter, room temp

1 1/4 cup sugar

3 large eggs, room temp

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

3/4 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 20 muffin cups with liners.  Sift/whisk together all dry ingredients in large bowl.

Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy and light.  Add in eggs one at a time, beating until just combined. Add in vanilla and almond extract. Alternate beating in dry mixture and milk, ending with dry mixture.  

Fill each liner about 3/4 way full.  Bake cupcakes for 16-20 minutes until tooth pick comes out clean.  

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:

1 1/2 sticks butter, room temp

8 oz cream cream cheese, room temp

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

milk

Directions:

Beat butter and cream cheese until fluffy.  Add in vanilla.  Gradually beat in sugar, scraping down the bowl in between.  Add milk, 1 tsp at a time, until desired consistency is reached. 

 

Enjoy!!!!!

To see some more delicious recipes check out these fabulous blogs:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Tuesday at the Table

Tasty Tuesday

Have a great day!!

Half Healthy Raspberry Cookies

I absolutely love the combination of raspberry and chocolate chip.  I actually love the combination of most anything sweet.  Whipped cream and chocolate. Strawberries and chocolate. Ice cream and ice cream. Whipped cream with a little side of whipped cream.  You get the idea. However, raspberries and chocolate sound especially good recently.

Now, with that being said I would like to lose a few pounds in general before having a baby (years away!!) and also off my booter, because...well...it's getting too big. So, I decided to remake an old recipe I had to be a little bit healthier.  I didn't want to make it too healthy though because if it tastes like tree bark, it's not going to satisfy my sweet tooth. So here it goes:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1 egg white

2 tbsp flax seed meal   (This is simply ground flax seed and totally optional)

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 cup chocolate chips   (I used semi-sweet, but you could use anything including white)

1/2 cup chopped nuts  (I used almonds)

Directions:

Beat sugar and butter until fluffy.  Mix in yogurt, egg white, honey, and vanilla until just combined. Slowly mix in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flax seed until combined.  Gently fold in the chocolate chips, raspberries, and nuts.

Place in refrigerator and cool for at least an hour.  This is a really important step, because the mixture is pretty wet.  

Heat oven to 375.  Make one inch ball and place them on a greased cookie sheet.  Gently press to flatten a little and bake for 10-12 minutes.

*Okay a couple of notes about this.  First, if you don't like the texture of whole wheat flour, just use all regular.  Second, I really wouldn't use frozen raspberries, because I think they would be too runny.*

Hope you like them :)

To see more delicious creations visit Tasty Tuesday here and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday here!

Have a great day!!

No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

I made this for a barbeque that we had on Saturday and it was so good and easy!  It had a great strawberry taste and didn't feel quite as heavy as a normal cheesecake.  Not that I've really had a problem with heavy desserts before....but. Ugh. Well, you know what I mean.

Ingredients:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

6 tbsp butter, melted

1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar

4 pkg (80z) cream cheese

1/2 cup strawberry preserves

2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped

1 tub (8oz) Cool Whip, thawed

Directions:

Mix graham crackers, butter, and 1/4 cup sugar together.  Press into bottom of 13x9 pan. Refrigerate while making filling.

Beat cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until well blended.  Add in preserves and mix well.  Put strawberries in a small bowl and sprinkle 2 tbsp sugar over.  Mash strawberries with fork or potato masher.  Stir strawberries and Cool Whip into cream cheese mixture.  Spoon over crust. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.  

Obviously we liked it....

To see more yumminess check out Tasty Tuesday here and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday here!

Have a great day!!

Carrot Cheesecake

Here is the recipe for the Carrot Cheesecake that I made on Easter.  Even though it has the little carrots, I would really eat this anytime of year.  It was so good!!  I chose to put the little marzipan carrots on it, but you definitely wouldn't have to.  This recipe came out of Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Cheesecake Ingredients:

Crust:

1/2 cup toasted pecans

8 graham crackers, finely ground

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

Cheesecake:

1 tbsp unsalted butter

2 medium carrots, peeled, finely grated

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 pkgs (8 oz ea) cream cheese, softened

4 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1.  Preheat oven to 350.  Pulse pecans in food processor until finely ground.  Place in medium bowl with graham crackers, and stir in butter, sugar, and salt.

2.  Wrap outside of a 9-inch springform pan in two layers of foil.  Press crumb mixture firmly into bottom of pan.  Bake until golden brown around edges and firm, about 15 minutes.  Let cool on wire rack.  Reduce oven temperature to 325.

3.  Make the cheesecake:  Melt butter in medium pan over medium heat.  Add carrots and 1/2 cup sugar, and cook, stirring often, until carrots are soft, 3 to 4 minutes.  Transfer with pan juices to a bowl, and let cool.

4.  Beat cream cheese and remaining cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes.  Add eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.  Add carrots and pan juices, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and vanilla, and beat until incorporated.  Pour into crust. 

5.  Set springform pan in a large roasting pan.  Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach half way up the sides of the springform pan. Bake cheesecake until set but slightly wobbly in center, about 80 to 90 minutes.  

6.  Transfer springform pan to a rack, and remove foil.  Let cool.  Refrigerate, uncovered, at least 6 hours (or overnight).  After, cheesecake will keep covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.  Run a hot knife around edges of cheesecake to loosen, then release sides of pan. Decorate with marzipan carrots before serving.

Marzipan Carrots

Marzipan is a mixture of almonds, sugar, and sometimes egg whites.  Its soft, pliable texture makes it ideal for sculpting and decorating.  It's available in the baking aisle of supermarkets.

Ingredients:

1 oz marzipan

Orange gel food coloring

Unsweetened cocoa powder, for decorating

Small carrot fronds (I used parsley)

1.  Tint marzipan with orange coloring a little at a time, to reach desired color.  Divide into 12 pieces. (Cover with wrap when not using.)  Shape each piece into a ball, then roll into logs, tapering 1 end to resemble carrots.

2.  Dip a paring knife into cocoa powder.  Make tiny indentations in each carrot with cocoa-dusted knife to evoke the vegetable's texture.  Carrots will keep, covered, for up to 1 week. Push fronds (or parsley) into top of each carrot before serving.

To check out more great Tasty Tuesday recipes go to this great blog here.

Have a great day!

Black-and-White Cheesecake Squares

Oh Martha, you make my tummy so happy.  I found these delicious squares in a recent issue of Martha Stewart Living.  I knew I had to make them for something.  So when my hubby asked me to make something for a work party I thought about these right away.  They were so moist and yummy!  There are a few added steps to these, but it's honestly really worth it.  Also, just for Lindsay, "in these economic times", they are really inexpensive to make and I actually had all the ingredients on hand.  Ok here it goes:

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray

2 cups plus 2 tbsp flour

3/4 unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

10 oz (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened....I never said it was healthy!

2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs

2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1.  Coat a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Line dish with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on both long sides, then spray parchment.

2.  Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl.  Cream butter and granulated sugar with a mixer until smooth.  Add 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla, and beat until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture. Increase speed to medium; beat until incorporated.

3.  Preheat oven to 325.  Reserve 1 cup of dough; cover, and refrigerate.  Press remaining dough into bottom of prepared dish.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Bake until base is set and edges are puffed, about 25 minutes.  Let cool in dish on a wire rack.

4.  Mix cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, remaining egg, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in medium bowl.  Spread over cooled base; crumble reserved dough on top.  

5.  Bake until filling is set, 25 to 30 minutes.  Let cool in dish on wire rack, then lift out using overhang.  Cut into 24 squares.  Squares will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days.

Eat or give to someone you love!!

Have a great day!!