"they don't make baby food this good"

Alyssa thought it was baby food when I first asked her to try this, and that's what I told her. She agreed after trying it. It is in fact one of the most addictive healthy foods I've ever made/ eaten.

So what am I smiling about in the picture? Chocolate-chip cookie dough dip from Chocolate Covered Katie. Most of my friends will vouch for the fact that for all the baking I do, I don't eat very much of the final product. I do however, tend to eat an awful lot of the dough/batter/etc. So when I found this recipe the other day, I knew I had to make it.

I also conveniently had all the ingredients on hand:

Another convenient part of this recipe for the extrodinarily low time commitment. Which was especially good since I was procrastinating when I made it. I honestly just threw everything into my baby the bullet:

In the future I think I'm going to have to do this step in halves.. I had a lot of trouble getting all the chick peas down the the blade and eventually dumped half out, ran it and dumped that into a bowl, and then repeated with the rest. I also ended up substituting the milk with water because the milk was sour (ew). But all in all, it turned out beautifully: 

Stay tuned for a new black bean burger recipe and those pumpkin things I promised!

Well, Hello World

Wow...

I know, it's been over two months since I've posted anything. Epic. Fail. Not quite sure where the rest of my summer went. I started having adventures (Seattle, camping, moving, etc.) instead of making tasty things.

But I promise, this time I'm here to stay.

I figure the least I can do (since I know you all missed these posts), is start back up with a frickin' awesome recipe. So without further ado, I present Deb of Smitten Kitchen's red wine cake..

Probably my favorite thing about this cake was that it gave me reason to go to the liquor store FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER (after two months of belonging to the 21+ club, sad, I know). It's also a super simple cake to make. And tastes absolutely divine. And my assistant was a super awesome mixer/ stirr-er of ingredients (read: I love Sam Kap, and my friend is still babysitting my mixer).

Ingredients:

The steps really just came down to

1) mixing the wet ingredients with the sugars (minus the wine)

(thanks Sam!)

Then mixing in the dry ingredients: 

As the wine is added:

The recipe called for a round cake pan....which is probably the only kind of cake pan I don't have. I figured the 8 x 8 square one was close enough. The finished product:

Not the most appetizing picture I've ever posted, I know. But seriously, if you have a 3/4 cup of red wine in your possession, you need to make this asap.

We skipped Deb's ganache, but we did make a pretty awesome cool whip topping:

Ok, fine, so I actually just added milk to some powder in (cop-out). But it was still delicious!

I have lots of recipes on my to-make list. And it's fall (aka the season to bake pumpkin themed things until my roommate and I turn orange from eating them all). I hope to have one up by this time next week, but in the meantime- make this cake!

veggie burgers

I've never liked burgers. Ever. When I was real little, I thought I liked them. My gram would get one for me at McD's and I'd take two bites and change my mind. I've tried pork burgers, turkey burgers, tofu burgers....never a fan.

Nick is the one who introduced me to Picky Palate. And the recipe he picked for us I remember glossing over thinking meat? burgers? gross. But in general, it's hard to go wrong with Cajun spices. So when he suggested using the spices from this recipe to make whole foods black bean burgers, I decieded I've give them one more chance.


After almost a month (over a month?) we were reunited!

We decided to make them at his place since he has a grill. He combined all the ingredients for the burgers. And came up with the idea to add corn (the sweet/crunchy addition was perfect).

In the meantime, I worked on the spice combination. We were missing paprika, which is a key part of the Cajun seasoning, I know. But I did my best to make a good combination without it. I ended up throwing these together:

We went the route of mini patties.

Then we broke out the mini grill. It made some strange noises, but eventually Nick figured out what to do with it.

While they were cooking we set up the rolls and condiments. Pepper Jack cheese, fresh tomato, shredded lettuce, and kaiser roles:

Then it was dinnertime! This was Nick's burger:

For some reason I never quite got around to taking a picture of mine. I might have inhaled it too quickly. I was blown away by how good they were. I didn't really enjoy it on the kaiser roll, so I made a sort of burger salad (tastier than it sounds, really). Me, the burger hater, ate two patties. Nick inhaled his too. With the help of our friend Liz, there were no leftovers whatsoever!

I'm so happy my view on burgers turned a little with this recipe. And it was a good way to sneak a little more protein into my day. Not to mention, it was super easy. I think I'd recommend it to just about anyone. 

Nick's still away from the city for a while, but I made the drive up to see him yesterday and it wasn't awful at all (turns out the parkway only really sucks for the fifteen or so miles on either side of the tunnel). Hopefully we'll be posting joint recipes more often!

whirlwind

Hey guys,

So again, I apologize for the length of time it's been since I last posted. Life's been a little busy to say the least (not that I'm complaining). I've been cooking less often then usual and documenting what I cook even less than that. I finally took Monday night to myself and even went running to work up an appetite (it wasn't my only goal, believe it or not, but it definitely worked!).

I've been on a quest to cook tofu since I decided to try this whole vegetarian thing (speaking of which, I'll be at 7 weeks on Sunday and I can honestly say that 1) I haven't slipped once yet, and 2) I don't miss meat as much as I thought I would at all). Anyway, besides tofu moose I haven't made any epic tofu recipes, but this one is definitely places second.

So now I present to you: Honey Mustard Marinated Tofu

*I adjusted the recipe for 12.3 oz of tofu

Ingredients:

 I feel like this would have worked with 6 TBSP of honey musterd instead of 3 TBSP each of honey and Dijon. Did I hike to IGA to get honey because for the first time since moving into this apartment we were out? Of course. Next time.

My unconventional tofu press (the bullet was already out on the counter, I'm not that obsessed). And the marinade..

My 8 x 8 pan is mysteriously missing (it's a gift how easily I lose things...). So instead I used a pie plate. Covered in foil, of course (because really, scrapping marinate off any pan is just obnoxious).

Before the oven:

After the oven:

To round out my meal I decided another smitten kitten recipe was in order. Asparagus is by and far my favorite vegetable..and I think this might be my favorite way to eat it. Just shear, toss, and enjoy!

Eaten in front of That 70's Show reruns. it was a perfect way to end a stressful Monday. The salad was as spectacular as the first time I made it back in May. I'm still unsure how I like the consistency of tofu marinated and baked, but it was a huge improvement from the last time I made it. I'm addicted to the almost crispy edges that I only seem to get when I saute it in lots of oil. The flavor was fantastic, however.

Nick and I were supposed to cook Cajun black bean burgers...but the world has not been on our side lately. That post is coming soon, promise!

Anyone have any tofu cooking tips? Or recipes to try? 

Brownie Thursday

Ok, so I realize the average college student participates in thirsty Thursday... but this week I was totally craving brownies. And I've been meaning to make this recipe for a while. I first about the concept of black bean brownies in the fall- and I thought, ew, wtf, why would you add black beans to perfectly good brownies? But then I did some research, and found that apparently they just made the brownies super moist (and were also a gluten free alternative- which is cool even though I have no problems with gluten).

And if there's black beans in them, it totally justifies eating half the pan in one sitting, right?


After a full day of browsing black bean brownie recipes (I promise I do other work at my co-op.. occasionally), I settled on this recipe via foodgawker,

The ingredients were conveniently things I had on hand (well, except the eggs, but I needed eggs anyway, and it was an excuse to run to CVS).

The trick to making the beans unnoticeable is pulverizing them, Which of course, was another excuse to break out the magic bullet. 

The processed beans looked oddly like a cookies and cream milkshake..

Then I did that thing you usually do with brownies (added the rest of the ingredients + extra sugar and chocolate powder and poured it into a baking dish):

After thirty minutes or so (longer than the recipe had said, but I might have have used a different pan...or our oven is awful, whatever), they were done.

Anna (home from Kenya!), Alyssa, and I ate it immediately in its molten hot form...and it was kind of strange, but delicious. I thought it got better as it set though. I froze the rest of it so I'll have snacks for a while and it won't get stale (I hate wasted baked goods!).

I think I'd try a different recipe next time (maybe a gluten one). But overall, the recipe was real easy, and you couldn't taste the beans. And there's nothing wrong with a guiltless brownie.

Kale?

Hey guys!

Nick and I are still apart. We almost met up for the Pirates game on Saturday, but nothing about that game seemed to work out for me (I did get to see the fireworks though, so I can't really complain).

Back to the food....

I've been cooking all damn day for no particular reason. So far I've made:
zucchini pizza boats
     -They're absolutely delicious, and a perfect way to sneak in veggies when pizza is what you're really craving. I've even gotten my veggie-hating friends to eat them. Beth's whole blog is dedicated to cheap and easy (and tasty) recipes. If you've never heard of it, it's definitely worth checking out

curry hummus
     -I go through a container of hummus a week. It's definitely in my top five favorite foods (which is saying something). And it's pretty healthy. I try to switch up the kinds I make. I made average, garlic hummus last week, and was munching of Trader Joe's before that so I thought a change was in order. I'm not sure how I feel about this recipe- it's not bad, just real different.

and finally....
kale chips!
     -I've wanted to make these since I first saw them around the food/health blogs world a few months ago. A) they look delicious, and B) kale is on of those superfoods. I was a little skeptical though - how sense does it make, really, that you can make a bitter green taste GOOD with a little olive and salt, not to mean, cook it just so that it's not crispy and doesn't burn. But when the farmer's market just happened to have kale on Wednesday I figured it was worth a shot. I decided to use Deb's recipe since her blog has never failed me.

First thing first, I washed the kale thoroughly (I'll be honest, it still had dirt on it, but I figured that contributed to its freshness?). Then I chopped of the stems, and cut the leaves into more manageable pieces.

One of the best things about this recipe was that it only called for two ingredients. 

And not much of either at that. I drizzled a tablespoon of olive oil over the kale and guesstimated on the salt. Then just tossed it until all the kale was covered.

Then I spread the leaves onto two large baking sheets. I have a vendetta again cleaning baking sheets (seriously, is there a way to scrub the whole thing without spraying yourself with the faucet?), so I lined them with foil..

And after twenty minutes at 300 degrees...

They turned out beautifully. Not comparable to... well really anything. They're paper thin but absolutely filled and favor. And they don't fill you up at all (for better or for worse). Even Alyssa joined me in devouring half the batch:

We did manage to save enough for me to take to work Monday and Tuesday.

I was absolutely thrilled with how they turned out. I really hope the farmers market has kale again this week.

Hopefully nick and I will being making something fun later this week. Until then, have a good week everyone!!

Oats!

I know it's been a week and a day, but bear with us, Nick and I are still doing this miles and miles apart. Cooking has been happening- but my documentation has been lacking. Sorry!

I've been addicted to quick cooking oatmeal since the fall. I'm not sure how it really started, but somehow I started eating oatmeal on a daily basis (I guess it goes hand in hand with my obsession with breakfast). Anyhow, the more I read about oats, the more I learned about all the different types there were. In the spring I got some spiffy multigrain oats from the East End Co-op. And after reading about them for a few months, I finally picked up some steel cut oats.

The only downside to steel cut oats is that they take at least 35 minutes to cook. Besides that - they are incredible. The texture is way different. But kind of awesome? And the best part is you can make ahead of time and eat it all week (like I do.. I know, I know, no one else likes oatmeal THAT much).

Like regular oatmeal, all you need are oats and boiling water:

Then let it boil for another five minutes until the oatmeal begins to thicken. Then just let it simmer for 30 minutes - be careful it's not boiling! Or you're pot will be super hard to clean.

When it looks thick, and most of the liquid has been absorbed, you're probably done (like the picture directly above). I distribute it into containers equally. Then you can add whatever topping you want :) fresh fruit, raisins, chocolate, cinnamon, brown sugar...or, my personal favorite, honey!

And now I can go to bed super excited about breakfast tomorrow!

(I'm an old person) Goodnight!