Tag Archives: baking

2 Ingredient Valentine Fudge

Posted on February 9, 2012 | 8 Comments

My mom sent me this recipe! She knows me so well.

It’s so genius that I hate to share, but hey, I’m a giver! I brought them into the office, and I was secretly happy that nobody asked for the recipe this time. :)

2 Ingredient Valentine Fudge (via cookies&cups)

Ingredients

  • 1 (16 oz) can of strawberry frosting
  • 1 12 oz bag of white chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Prepare a 9×9 pan by spray lightly with cooking spray.
  2. Over a double boiler, or in the microwave, melt your white chocolate chips.
  3. When chips are melted, remove from heat and stir in your strawberry frosting, evenly.
  4. Spread in your prepared pan and place in fridge to set for 30 minutes.
  5. Cut into squares (or HEARTS) to serve.

Did you see those two ingredients? Do you realize that they’re in one aisle at Target. I could almost grab one ingredient with each hand while standing in one spot.

I’m a sucker for those chocolate brown eyes so Boyd got the leftover frosting container to lick out. I had to take the paper label off first otherwise he would have eaten it. Silly Boykins!

I felt Kevin’s smile for the fudge picture was a little lackluster so I told him,”Smile like you’re me on our wedding day.” It worked.

Quick mini lunch because I’m on my way to the gym! I’m checking out the interenets for a Valentine Cookie Friday idea. I don’t really want to do anything red velvet or cutout.

Any ideas? xoxo

 

 

 

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My 2 Favorite Things About Super Bowl Sunday

Posted on February 5, 2012 | 9 Comments

Isn’t this crazy?

Yeah, you’re not surprised I follow Jillian Michaels on Facebook, are you?

I will say, I was proud to see quite a crowd at the gym early this afternoon. Weekend afternoons are usually pretty dead, but it was hopping around 1PM today! I got in a run, spin, & weights workout! Kevin let me stay extra long since he was just at home doing homework.

After church, we dropped off some long overdue library books and swooped into Panera. We shared a Pick 2. Isn’t that crazy? I had the Sonoma Chicken Stew and Kevin had some sort of a 1/2 sandwich. I picked out every last pea. I want to learn to make the stew at home. Without peas.

Kevin was trying to conserve on calories so he could snack it up during the Super Bowl. And I like to workout on an almost-empty stomach so it worked out for us today. Most days I’d like a Pick 4 or 5. Why don’t they offer that?

What a studly nerd. He doesn’t know yet that he still has his name tag on. Hehe.

Super Bowl Snack #1 was ELR’s Jalapeño Cheddar Hummus with Kevin’s favorite Red Hot Blues.

Super Bowl supper plans started innocently enough…

I spotted this fun spice mix at Whole Foods last night and decided to make some chili! Kevin and I can usually never get it spicy enough so we were really excited to try a new flavor.

Key word: “usually.”

I was careful to follow the directions perfectly so it would be a good balance with the tomatoes, the beans, and the spicy factor. I took one cavalier taste out of the pot and regretted it for a full 5 minutes! My lips burned, and it was fiery all the way down my throat. We ended up two more cans of tomatoes + two more cans of beans. I also diluted mine with Greek yogurt. I still couldn’t eat it. And now, of course, we have a HUGE pot of it!

I ended up saving the day with some homemade mac ‘n’ cheese to which we carefully added a few TBSP of the chili. It was so delicious!! But still spicy! I loved the flavor, and now I need to think of some more ways to tone it down! Help!

My baby sisters got me some Reynolds heart-shaped pans for Christmas, and it’s the month of loooove so it was time to bust them out! Those things are awesome, by the way. I spent all afternoon thinking that I wish I had them when I taught in the DR! We were constantly baking for the sweet-talking high schoolers, and these would have been perfectly portion-sized and disposable!!! We had a heart pan that we used frequently, but it was HUGE! And we were constantly giving it to people who did not return it in a timely manner (Ahem! Yoalba!!!!!).

Kevin’s Super Bowl dessert was a heart-shaped brownie with vanilla frozen yogurt & marshmallow fluff topped with chocolate sprinkles. I just went with a huge bowl of the No Sugar Added Vanilla Fro Yo. Just perfect!

I think we stayed well under 4,200 calories!

And now for my 2 Favorite Things About Super Bowl Sunday:

  1. Diet Coke is on sale! 4/$10!!!!! That’s a steal.
  2. It means football is over till the fall. :)

You thought I was going to say the food, right? Or the commercials. Nah. Kevin watched it while working on filing our taxes. I was mostly cooking and harassing Boyd.

What’s your favorite thing about Super Bowl Sunday? I don’t really think it’s a day that deserves a special title, but at this point, why fight it? Maybe I’ll fight it in 4 years by throwing the best party ever for the Olympic Marathon Trials. Or maybe just to watch the Olympics this summer…

Any ideas what I should do with all that leftover chili? I’m thinking some will be frozen, some will be used with baked potatoes, but I’m just not sure what else!!

What’s your favorite shape to bake things in? Haha. I do love to bake in a heart! I was just trying to avoid asking you about your estimated calorie intake today. That’s probably too personal, right? Haha. :)

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Posted in Eating out, Fitness, Food

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Cookie Friday Fail + My Chocolate Cake Redemption

Posted on January 27, 2012 | 14 Comments

Today’s workout: 4.25 mile run + 2.10 on the elliptical. I know, it’s weird. I ellipticized. But I have this blister and after a mile of running, I didn’t think I was going to be able to hack it. So I got on the elliptical. Two miles on that thing seemed to numb the pain (and my brain), and I was able to run again!! The elliptical is not my friend, but I guess it helped me out today!

Let me be clear. I did not fail to MAKE cookies — it’s just that, the cookies were a failure.

You see, I really am firm in my belief that “too much of a good thing is a good thing”, and I put way too much marshmallow fluff. I’m sure this is a perfectly good recipe for Hot Cocoa Cookies – if you follow it correctly.

As you can see, that didn’t stop Kevin from scraping them off and eating a few! I decided to give myself a little grace since I was out of flour last night, and I was not in the mood for another flop!

And since I have to do everything I can to prove that I’m good enough for the baby of the family ;) , I decided to think up a super chocolatey recipe for my father-in-law.

And then I remembered Deidre’s famous chocolate cake. She even made it for our wedding! We were emailing it up (like always!), and she sent me the link.

I was really nervous about the bundt cake flipping, but I decided to go for it!

Too Much Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

  • 1 (18.25 ounce) package devil’s food cake mix
  • 1 (5.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the cake and pudding mixes, sour cream, oil, beaten eggs and water. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour batter into a well-greased 12 cup bundt pan.
  3. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake thoroughly in pan at least an hour and a half before inverting onto a plate If desired, dust the cake with powdered sugar + I added SPRINKLES!

YUMMY!! Kevin looks so dreamy! :)

Like father like son! ;)

For some reason we felt the need to eat dinner before dessert – lasagna magherit! I made it ahead of time this afternoon (while I was unfortunately not at an interview), and just popped it in the oven when it was time for dinner.  Just the pasta, the ricotta, basil, sauce, and cheese! So simple & delish.

After dinner was game time!

Aren’t they cute in their matching vests?

My husband has quite the game face. Man, I just love him so much!

And now, before bedtime, I have some very important questions for you.

Chocolate or vanilla? I’d probably choose vanilla. Vanilla fro-yo is definitely better than chocolate fro-yo. And everything goes back to fro-yo, right?

Cake or cookies? Cake. It’s more likely to have frosting!

Board games or movie night? Board games!! Unless I want to blog. Than movie night because I can rarely just watch a movie or tv. I have to multi-task!

P.S. That chocolate cake is the BEST! And it was super easy to whip up. You should definitely try it. Word on the street is that there’s also a lower cal version that uses fat free sour cream + sugar-free pudding. I should’ve read the reviews first…

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Posted in Family, Fitness, Food

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Cookie Friday: Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies

Posted on January 20, 2012 | 11 Comments

Making chocolate chip cookies scares me. I hate it when they turn out poofy or flat or ugly!! What a girl needs is a reliable chocolate chip recipe. Yesterday as I was leaving work, a co-worker said,”And bake some cookies if you have time!!” I can’t resist a challenge, and she had mentioned before that she likes homemade chocolate chip cookies. As someone who loves to cook and bake, I have a little mental file on the food preferences of everyone I know. Can you believe my father-in-law dislikes peanut butter? He’s not allergic. He just dislikes it!

Anyways…

Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies (via Two Peas & Their Pod)

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3.4 oz. package vanilla instant pudding mix
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat and set aside.

2. Using a mixer, beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add in pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

3. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until slight golden and set. Remove cookies from oven and let cool on baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Isn’t the vanilla pudding a cool secret ingredient? It seriously made them turn out perfecto!

Mixing.

I just like to put filters on pictures when I have a particularly dark or shadowy picture (which is all the time in this apartment!!). I’m like so tricky, right?

Kevin eating his balanced diet – a cookie in each hand!

I have 1 hour and 14 minutes until gym time. I’m going to relax!! I have to rest up for race day tomorrow so I’m going to take it super easy.

Two other cool chocolate chip cookie recipes: Skinny Chocolate Chip Cookies and Best Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

What do you do on Friday nights? Just curious what cool people do these days. Friday night is usually like my most tired night so I’m super lame. For us, it’s usually very similar to week nights with gym time, making dinner, blogging, and Kevin doing homework. I will say Friday is hands down the least busy night at our gym!

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Skinny Baked Potato Soup + The Best Chocolate Cake for a Crowd

Posted on January 15, 2012 | 28 Comments

If you loved Stuffed Red Pepper Soup, you are going to be bananas for this recipe!

I <3 Skinny Taste.

Our toppings were kind of feo because we didn’t have any shredded cheese. Kevin was skeptical when he heard “cauliflower”, but trust me, the potatoes covered a multitude of kinda gross vegetables!

Baked Potato Soup
Gina’s Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 5 • Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 207.6 • Fat: 7.8 g • Carb: 22.5 g • Fiber: 2.4 g  • Protein: 11.9 g

  • 2 russet potatoes, washed and dried
  • 1 small head of cauliflower, stem removed cut into florets
  • 1 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 cups 1% reduced-fat milk
  • salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  • 1/2 cup light sour cream
  • 10 tbsp reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  • 6 tbsp chopped chives, divided
  • 3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (you can use turkey bacon if you prefer)

Pierce potatoes with a fork; microwave on high for 5 minutes turn over and microwave another 3 – 5 minutes, until tender. Or if you prefer to use your oven, bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes.

Meanwhile, steam cauliflower with water in a large covered pot until tender. Drain and return to pot. On medium heat, add chicken broth, milk, potatoes and bring to a boil. Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. Add sour cream, half the chives, salt and pepper and cook on low another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat. Ladle 1 cup soup into each bowl. Top each serving with 2 tbsp cheese, remaining chives, and bacon.

This recipe worked like a charm because with the leftover toppings we made Baked Potato Dip to share Marriage + class!

Baked Potato Dip! Easy + delicious recipe from Baked Bree. Now I’m totally thinking up other occasions where I can use this dip. I loved it.

I was thinking of making another chips + dip type thing because that’s my fave, but I didn’t want to disappoint the people with crazy sweet teeth (like Kevin James).

I Googled up a recipe for Texas Sheet Cake from Our Best Bites. I love OBB because I trust the recipes to work out, and they are generally super down to earth. Unfortunately, I had some slight high altitude issues, but nothing that couldn’t be covered up with a little frosting. Note: a 11 x 17 jelly roll pan is crucial for this recipe. And THAT’S why it’s the perfect cake for the crowd.

Are you starting to feel like all I did this weekend was bake? I also got roped into making some Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for Kevin’s co-workers. He’s been bragging about me a little too much at work so I have to live up to my name. :

Today’s lunch was a little clean-up-the-fridge panini action. Avocado + turkey bacon (I really got my use out of that stuff!!) + some sharp cheddar.

Afterwards I got to do a nice little 4 miler with my best running buddy ever! The weather was pretty wonderful so we really enjoyed ourselves. The rest of the day was spent mostly in Sunday School & Marriage + class. Sundays are getting pretty packed.

Kevin FINALLY finished his weekend homework at 9:30PM, and we decided to go for a walk. I can’t believe how insanely quiet our neighborhood is at that time of night! It’s practically like Wabasha, Minnesota. I also can’t believe that Kevin chose to go for a 2 mile walk in green plaid pants and slippers. Seriously.

So what are your favorite food blogs? I love Skinny Taste, Brown Eyed Baker, How Sweet Eats, and Peas & Thank You. A nice mix of healthy and sugar-coated. :)

What’s up for this week?  I have an interview on Thursday!! And a 10 mile race on Saturday — the weather is looking good! Hooray!

 

 

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Posted in Food, Healthy recipes, Running

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Cookie Friday: Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies + My Baking Uniform

Posted on January 13, 2012 | 16 Comments

Make these if you want your house to smell heavenly!

Chai Spiced Sugar Cookies  (via My Baking Addiction)

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl combine sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, allspice and black pepper. Remove 1/4 cup of the sugar-spice mixture, set aside to reserve for rolling the cookies.

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar-spice mixture until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

5. Beat in egg and vanilla extract, combine until fully incorporated.

6. Slowly blend in dry ingredients mixing until just combined.

7. Using a small scoop (2 teaspoons) roll dough into balls and then into the reserved sugar-spice mixture. Place dough balls on prepared baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.

7. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

8. Let stand on baking sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Don’t you even THINK about skipping the caradmom. It is KEY! I promise. Even if you have to pay over $8 for it. That was a painful moment for me in the grocery store today, but I am still on budget. And that cardamom will last me a while.

Do you want to see what I bake in?

I wish it was this.

But as you can see in the calendar behind me – that was in July! When I was blissfully unemployed, tanned, and manicured! :)

Today?

Head to toe sweatylicious black! It wasn’t until I saw this picture that I realized there was an actual HANDPRINT on my pants. It doesn’t get classier than that. But I figure, why not use my pants? They’re about to going into the washing machine as soon as I get these cookies in the oven.

I thought it would be cool to pose with some measuring spoons so kinda paint the picture. A better thought would’ve been to just get in the shower already.

Do you want to know the most upsetting part of my day? I know, my life is too easy, but they postponed Jeopardy! till 1:30 AM  so they could do more Tebow fangirl coverage in Denver. 6:00PM is my treadmill tv time, and I don’t appreciate it being messed with!! Haha.

What do you bake in? I wish I could say heels. When I used to bake in the DR, I would generally be in a swimsuit because it got so hot in the kitchen. That caused some close calls, but no serious burns!!

Just curious, do you have caradmom in your spice cabinet? I do now!

P.S.  Just for fun: July Cookie Fridays!

 

 

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