Grasshopper Brownies

Happy Thursday everyone....I made and delivered my FIRST cupcake order today!! I am so excited, I made Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes and Peppermint Red Velvet Cupcakes.  The other day Chase came home and said he needed something to eat for a work/Christmas party by FRIDAY!! Oh the pressure...so I am making him grasshopper brownies! I have been in a baking frenzy today, my kitchen has been destroyed and put back together about 3 times! And I am getting my monies worth out of my mixer! These brownies are something I am literally throwing together, and I am doing something I never do....I am blogging it BEFORE I taste it! Yikes! So be warned these could really suck. But I like taking risk so here ya go....



Me!


Grasshopper Brownies
You will need:
1 2/3 cup sugar
a stick and a half of melted butter
2 tbsp water
2 large eggs (room temperature)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup coca powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp mint (menthe) extract

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350.  In a large mixing bowl beat together butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Add in eggs one at a time.  In a separate bowl fluffy together all dry ingredients. Add dry to wet gradually. When cocoa is mixed through add, your Mint extract. Bake for 25 minutes. Garnish with fresh mint leaves or crushed candy canes!

Happy Birthday Pancakes!

Hi everyone!! Today is my sons birthday, he is 2!!!  The whole time I was growing up I got my favorite cakes for breakfast! Until I know what his favorite cakes is...it will be Birthday Pancakes!!!  This is my favorite pancake recipe, and then I did them with yogurt and banaas and sprinkles! yum! Here ya go...

Birthday Pancakes
You will need:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz. sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 large egg beaten
3 tbsp melted butter

1 cup vanilla yogurt (or favorite flavor of yogurt)
rainbow sprinkles
1 banana

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl mix together all dry ingredients, fluffing with fork. In small bowl beat egg slightly and add to dry mix.  Add in milk, butter and sour cream. Fold in. You want there to be some chunks of batter in the mix. Dont over mix or pancakes will be tough. Cook over med-low heat. Layer pancake, then yogurt, sprinkles, sliced banana and then pancake. Repeat this pattern until desired hieght!

Happy Birthday to you or whoever is lucky enough to get these! You can serve them with frosting...but we did yogurt because he is TWO. Need I say more?

Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps

Hola! Sorry I miss you guys last night, I got busy cuddling on the couch with my honey. Bellies stuffed, we were pitiful! Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday, I love Fridays, even though I stay home, it still has a certain feel.  I love Thai food, next to Italian it's my favorite.  So we have lettuce wraps quite a bit in our house. They are fast and easy, it is a "serve yourself" kind of dish, and so it gives mommy a break too! These are made out of ground turkey, and shredded cabbage (cole slaw mix). Here ya go...
(I was only able to take one picture of the finished product, due to angry toddler/ankle biter lol)

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

You will need:
1 lb ground turkey (you can also use ground pork, or left over cut up pork chops)
1 1/2 cups shredded white cabbage (I use cole slaw mix, because it has carrots in it one less step)
1 can water chestnuts, diced and drained (you can buy these already diced in most stores, they will be with all the Asian inspired food.)
3 tbsp lite soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
handful of chopped cilantro
1/2 cup roasted, skinless peanuts
2 limes
2 heads ice burg lettuce
1 tsp ground ginger

Directions:
Peel off the first couple of layers from lettuce heads, making sure to get the soft "bendable" leaves. The closer to the center you get the crispier the lettuce is. Wash lettuce leaves well, and place in bowl. Chill in fridge while you make the filling!
In a large pan or wok, brown ground turkey. Drain to drain off any fat or grease, return turkey to pan.  Add cabbage to pan and cook until wilted, squeeze the juice of one lime over mixture. Add in chestnuts, soy sauce, sesame oil, cilantro, ginger and peanuts. Cook until steaming! Serve with lime slices, I like mine extra tangy!

Roasted Corn and Goat Cheese Quesadilla=Light Lunch!

Hope everyone is having a glorious Wednesday! I love Wednesdays, I don't know why...maybe that much closer to the weekend.  It is still cold here and we still feel the need to be hermits.  We might make a trip to the grocery store later for a few items for dinner, but then its back to home for us! I try and feed Max a REAL lunch everyday, something of substance.  But lunches are supposed to be quick and light. Today we are having Roasted Corn and Goat Cheese Quesadilla's! It's light and quick and easy.  I prefer frozen corn, i feel like it has no sugar added (you cant really see whats in that water in the can).  I like doing stuff in tortillas because its easy for Max to handle.  Here ya go...

Roasted Corn and Goat Cheese Quesadilla

You will need:
1 1/2 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 medium package goat cheese or reduced fat cream cheese
juice from half a lime
chopped cilantro
whole wheat or corn tortilla
s/p
1 can green chiles or rotel (today I used what I had which was Rotel)

Directions:
Preheat broiler. Place corn your cast iron skillet, roast in oven just until deep golden.  In a medium mixing bowl mix together, goat cheese, cilantro, rotel and lime juice. Fold in roasted corn. Spread mixture onto whole wheat tortillas fold like a quesadilla. In a greased pan, grill until tortilla is slightly crispy. Slice and enjoy! I serve mine with sliced avocado! MMMMmmm.

*This made an extra quesadilla and so I grilled it, and then stuck it in a feezer bag and threw it my freezer! Lunch for another day!

"Not Girly" Potato and Leek Stewp!

It's FREEZING outside, and I am pretty sure some where in the city it is snowing.  I have officially turned into a hermit! A) because i don't like the WIND. and B) I have a small child and you know how that goes! 

I love soups and stews during the winter, as I am sure most of you do!  My husband thinks soup is girly, but he will eat stew all day long. Marriage is a dance of compromise, and so I created "Stewp" It's soup but everything in it is BIG and chunky! I use a little less broth and BAM...Stewp! This is a good one, it has leeks and potatoes. It's hearty and filling and rich.  Leek,s if you didn't know are part of the onion family, but their taste is much more delicate. They are great in soups (that's how I prefer them) and some people cut them into strips and deep fry them. The green leaves are usually discarded and the white stalk is eaten.  When buying leeks you want to look for really stiff green leaves.  Make sure you wash them thoroughly! Cutting them in half wash between the layers, making sure to get all the sand crystals out.  You can saute them in a stir fry, or mix them in anything really. They are high fiber and great for you!  Be creative.

The base of this soup is a traditional mirepoix (meer-PWAH), a combination of celery, carrots and onions.  In the culinary world this is considered the "holy trinity" and is a good combo when sauteed and added to soups and sauces.  You want to chop them roughly (these do not have to be big and chunky) and saute them in a little olive oil and garlic before adding to the pot.  Like I said this recipe is easy. A little prep and alot of enjoyment! Here ya
go....

Potato and Leek Stewp
You will need:

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup roughly chopped carrot
1/2 cup roughly chopped celery
1/2 cup roughly chopped onion
kosher salt
1 leek, washed and chopped into half circles
3 large Yukon gold or russet potatoes
1/4 green onion
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 sour cream
2 tsp black pepper corns
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp parsley
1/2 stick of butter
1 bay leaf

In a large saute pan, cook onions, celery and carrots just until onions are translucent. If onion starts to brown turn down fire.  Add a pinch of kosher salt to help draw out moisture.  In the meantime, prepare leeks. Cut long ways discarding green leaves. with flat side down cut into half circles. As big as you desire. I cut mine about 1/2 inch wide.  Throw chopped leeks into crock pot.  Cut up potato into chunks and add in with leeks. Add your mirepoix (veg mixture).  Add stick of butter, pour heavy cream and chicken broth over mixture. (If you would like more liquid then by all means, add more broth or milk). Add all seasonings and green onion.  Without stirring all together, cover and cook on high 2 hours. Turn down to low, stir and cook until potatoes are tender. Enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake

It's been a day or two since my last entry.  I have had a busy weekend! Every weekend seems like its busy lately. Chase is coming home tomorrow and I am so excited.  I miss him so much, and to show him how much I miss him I baked him his favorite dessert....CHEESECAKE! He loves lemons and blue berries and so I combined the two! Its so easy and a really pretty cake.  This will be a good thing to take to a potluck. Make it the day before, let it chill over night and it will be perfect! Here ya go...

Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake

You will need:
3 packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
zest from 2 lemons
juice from 2 lemons
3 eggs
1 can blueberry pie filling

1 sleeve graham crackers, crushed
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven 350.
In a mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese and 1 cup sugar. In the meantime, crush up graham crackers, and melt butter. Mix melted butter, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla and crushed graham in bowl. Cover bottom of spring form pan with mixture, making sure to be even mash down mixture. Bake for 10 minutes. Once cream cheese is smooth add, sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice. Add eggs in one at a time. Mix just until eggs are mixed in. (It is okay if there are chunks of cream cheese that aren't mixed in well, don't over beat the mixture. This is what causes cracks.) Pour mixture over cooked graham crust. Drop spoonfuls of blue berry filling over mixture, and swirl with butter knife. Add as much as you want. I do about 6 spoonfuls. Bake 50 minutes. Crack oven door for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool room temperature for up to 2 hours. Chill in fridge over night!

Quick and Easy...Rosemary and Black Pepper Roast with Feel Good Mac and Cheese

My husband is going out of town tomorrow and so I have been running around like a mad woman.  So tonight its something quick and easy! This is something you could do ahead of time and then have it ready for times like this!  Next time you go to the grocery store spend a little extra and pick up a "tri-tip roast" if they have it, or a beef tenderloin. When you get home, before you throw to the back of your freezer put it in a freezer bag with a marinade! You can really do this with ANY meat....marinate it in a zip lock baggy, throw it in the freezer and forget about it. Then when that crazy busy night comes, and your sweating over what you're going to do for dinner, AH! then you remember you have that meat in the freezer...I compare the feeling to finding that $20 bill in your winter coat from last season. 

Try this marinade, this is a good one for red meat.  Try some red wine in it too! There is no red wine in this one but get creative. You might amaze yourself. 

*A good key to remember when choosing a marinade is...the darker marinades are better for dark meat, red meats...the lighter the marinade the better it is for pork, chicken or fish. (Red wine=red meat, White wine=white meat)

Rosemary Black Pepper Marinade

You will need:
fresh or dry rosemary, chopped roughly to release flavor notes
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tbsp ground black pepper corns, or coarse black pepper
juice from a whole lemon
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl and pour over cut of meat. Let stand up to 24 hours in the fridge or pour into freezer bag, let and freeze until later use. You can cook this in the crock pot, grill it or bake in a 350 degree oven until desired doness.

Feel Good Mac and Cheese
 You will need:
1/2 cup per person, dry macaroni noodles
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 stick of butter, melted
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
s/p
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp parsley
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup shredded parmasean cheese
1/4 sour cream
1/2 mozzarella cheese
 and any other cheeses you would like to try! Goat cheese is really good, but sometimes hard to find and very expensive.  Ricotta is a wonderful cheese to do too!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Boil noodles just to al dente texture.  In a bowl mix cooked noodles with all different cheese, reserve some cheddar to use as a topping. Toss gently.  Add s/p, mustard, sour cream, cayenne and butter. Toss gently.  Pour over heavy cream. Pour into your favorite baking dish! Bake for 15-20 until top is bubbly.

Bon Appetit