I've been baking for years now, but have never tasted any of my baked goods. Until Thursday. Yep, you read that right. Tray after tray of mouthwatering cookies coming out of the oven, fresh hot aromatic garlic bread, delicious potato knishes...and I don't taste it. I enjoy them through the enjoyment of my family and friends, but not on my own. It's kind of sad, really, but I have been dieting longer than I have been baking. Occasionally, even a hard core dieter needs a dessert, and that's when I would turn to my local bakery. They sell whole wheat, sugar free, low fat muffins that are... well, ok. Barely. I didn't buy them often, so I wasn't all that concerned. Until last week, when I went … [Read more...]
S’mores Brownie Bites
A couple of weeks ago, an idea popped into my head. S'mores. In a brownie. Yum. Yeah, I can be simple that way. My idea was simple: keep the original format of the smore, but swap out the chocolate for some rick gooey brownies. So I googled it and googled it, but I couldn't find anything like that. Sure, folks made smores brownies, but they usually entailed a mix of graham crackers and marshmallow on top of a brownie. That isn't what I am looking for. So I made my own version. In the interest of full disclosure, it took me a couple of tries to get the recipe perfect enough for my liking. I did it though. So effectively that my coworkers all get this dreamy look in their eyes when they think … [Read more...]
Grilled Vegetable Rice Salad
Every year, around this time, I get this panicky feeling as I think about the summer slipping away. Wait! How can summer be ending? I didn't have enough fun yet! I didn't do all of the summery things I wanted to do! This summer more so than usual. I've been working overtime at work, on top of my super long hours. I spent weeks preparing for the party for my sister's new baby. I started a food blog. Here's what I haven't done. I haven't gone on vacation. I haven't spent time in the beautiful outdoors. My skin is as white as it was in December. For me, it might as well be the dead of winter. Except for the barbecues. And oh what amazing barbecues I've made. Chicken, burgers, steak, veggies- … [Read more...]
Strawberry Chocolate Cream Cups
I am the kind of person who will spot a beautiful little cup, buy it, then try and come up with something to use it for. That's not an example; it's what I did last week. I saw these gorgeous little pedestal cups, and couldn't leave the store without them. They will look so good on the buffet table at the party I am making in honor of my sister's new baby. So I bought a couple packages, and started to think. The party being for a little girl, I decided to strawberry would be the way to go. Then I decided to go for the contrast- so chocolate would have to be involved. At first I thought I would crumble some leftover chocolate cake I had stashed in the freezer, but I didn't have enough, so … [Read more...]
Za’atar Roasted Cauliflower
I know I give off the impression here that I spend every at-home waking hour in the kitchen, tinkering with recipes and creating all kinds of exciting delicacies. But that isn't always the case. Occasionally (okay, very occasionally) I have a life. I come home from work and gasp do thing. Non cooking things. And when I get home late, the last thing I want to do is spend a ton of time preparing lunch for the next day. Lunch? Why is that a big deal? It is. Let me explain. Yes, my coworkers order in daily (or so it seems). Every time I step into the elevator to leave the building, three (or more) delivery men are coming up to my floor. But I don't order in. Never have, hope never to. It's … [Read more...]
World’s Best Blueberry Crumb Muffins
Last summer I took my two nieces (then 2 and 4) blueberry picking. They had an amazing time, and amazingly learned to tell the difference between a blueberry that was ripe and one that wasn't. One problem: they enjoyed themselves so much that I didn't have the heart to stop them once we had we had enough berries. So they kept picking until we finally drove off with about two thousand pounds of fresh blueberries. (Slight exaggeration. Slight.) We got home and I came up with a great way to use up some of the surplus: "Who wants to bake blueberry muffins?" And so we did. And even the blueberry-muffin-haters among us loved them. I made a triple recipe, thinking I'd freeze a bunch. That wasn't … [Read more...]
Chewy Molasses Ginger Cookies
Just after I finished making a big batch of this dough, my heart sank. My family won't like cookies with ginger and ohmygosh cloves. But the dough was ready, and I wasn't going to throw it out. So I sat and shaped the cookies, all the while thinking about how nobody would eat them. It's a good thing I'm not a betting sort of woman, because I'd have lost big time. My little brother (notoriously unadventurous in the palate department) took one look at the cookies and said "Oh, yay! Snickerdoodles." His mistake is understandable. They look a bit like snickerdoodles, with the crackly top and the sugar topping. But my tasters bit into the cookies, and far from the looks of horror I had … [Read more...]
Healthy Quiche Cups
Here's a secret: until a couple of days ago, I'd never tasted a quiche. As I've previously mentioned, I'm a perpetual dieter. As such, the typical fattening quiche baked in an even-more fattening crust has always been off limits to me. Until recently, when I was bored of everything I usually made, and decided to get creative. "I'll make a low fat quiche," I told myself. "And who needs a crust anyway?" Erm, me? But I was hungry. So I mixed up the batter and was about to dump it into a muffin pan, when I noticed some whole wheat wraps lying on the counter. Thank heavens for people who don't put things away. "This could work," I thought excitedly. "And it won't break the calorimeter!" So I … [Read more...]
Hearty Split Pea Soup..shhhh-it’s fat free!
I'm a real soup lover: chicken soup, vegetable soup, lentil soup, mushroom barley soup...you name it, I'll eat it. But this soup has a special place in my heart. It's thick, hearty and filling, but it's more than that. It's got this magical quality that makes you feel warm all over, inside and out. It's kind of like a hug from grandma. And best of all...it's fat free! Don't tell anyone, cause it's so delicious they'd never guess. So whip up a big pot of this soup, feed it to your family, and smile to yourself at our little secret- it's so darned good for you! Ingredients: 2 1 lb bags green split peas 1/3 bag (8 Oz) baby Lima beans (optional) 2 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt, or to taste 10-12 cups of … [Read more...]
Peanut Butter Truffle Stuffed Oreos
These started out as truffles, and evolved into one of the most delicious, easiest desserts in the planet. The truffle filling is a classic combination of two flavors any sane individual adores: chocolate and peanut butter. Stuff that decadent mixture in between two Oreos, roll it in some sprinkles, and voila! No bake, super easy and totally gorgeous. The sprinkles are great too. I made them for a party to celebrate the birth of my new niece, hence the pink you see in the picture. You can do blue for a boy, colorful for a child's party, or any other color/shape sprinkles that match your theme and or color scheme. If you don't have a particular color that works, use plain white- it fits … [Read more...]
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