Mixed Berry Cake

I've been on a fresh strawberry kick.  Also, a cake kick.  It was only logical to combine them together, right?

I give you…

Mixed Berry Cake.  

It's a dense cake filled with yogurt, honey, and frozen fruit.  (No, I didn't use my beloved fresh strawberries in the cake.  I'd much rather eat those!).  Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon snack!

Mixed Berry Cake

• 2 cups spelt flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup yogurt, plain or vanilla
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup frozen mixed berries

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease an 8in round pan.  In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.  In another bowl, combine honey, egg, vanilla, yogurt, and milk.  Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until a smooth batter forms.  Add frozen fruit and mix to incorporate.  Pour batter into prepared pan and spread into an even layer.  Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely before slicing.  Recipe makes 8 servings.

Chocolate Brownie Smoothie {Recipe ReDux}

Dear Winter,

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with you.  You see, your snow is pretty and on some days it’s nice to curl up with a good book while you whirl around outside;  that’s when I like you.  But this year, I think you’ve been going a bit too crazy.

I don’t meant to be cruel, but I’m completely done with you.  I’m done with your freezing temperatures, buckets of snow, and bleak days.  Please go away, and soon.  I do believe it’s high time for your friend, Spring, to take over.

Consider the smoothie I’m sharing today as a going-away present.  The theme for the month’s Recipe ReDux was beverages, and I thought it would be perfect to create something that reminded me of warm weather and sunshine.  I think that if you taste how good this smoothie is, you’ll realize how wonderful the warm seasons are.  Maybe then you’ll give Spring and Summer a chance to shine.

I really hope I’m right.

This smoothie I’m offering you, it’s very good.  I call it a Brownie Smoothie, and I promise you it tastes even better than it sounds.

I started by making a batch of super chocolate-y brownies.  They tasted amazing and were packed with protein, thanks to the yogurt I added to the batter.  But once the brownies were baked, I decided to do even more.  I really wanted to offer you something good, Winter. 

And good this smoothie is.

 I kept things quick and easy, using only two ingredients, if you don’t count the brownies.  This smoothie is also quite easy to customize.  I wasn’t quite sure of your favorite fruit, and I wanted to give you the chance to decide.  Spring and Summer have some lovely fruits to offer.  If mixed berries aren’t your thing, feel free to use only strawberries, raspberries, or even banana.  As for the milk, any kind you like works: non-fat, low-fat, soy, almond.

I hope you accept my peace offering, Winter.  As you sip this refreshing smoothie, please consider raising your temperatures, brightening the sky, and decreasing the amount of snow you drop of us humans.  I speak for anyone living in a cold climate when I say it would mean a lot.

Much Thanks,

A girl who is completely and totally tired of you (in the most respectful way)

Chocolate Brownie Smoothie

Brownies:

• 2 (5.3 oz) containers of Greek yogurt (300 g total) (I used vanilla flavored, but any flavor that pairs well with chocolate will work)
• ½ cup rolled oats
• ½ cup special dark cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda

Smoothie:

• 1 cup frozen mixed berries (or frozen strawberries, frozen raspberries, frozen banana, or another frozen fruit that pairs well with chocolate)
• ¾ cup milk of choice
• 1/3 cup baked brownies (from recipe above)

Preheat oven to 350F.  In the container of a high-speed blender or food processor, combine all ingredients for brownies.  Blend until mixture is completely blended and smooth.  Make sure the oats have broken down completely.  Grease an 8x8 pan (or a loaf pan, for thick brownies) with cooking spray and pour brownie mix in.  Spread into an even layer.  Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, until brownies are firm.  Once fully baked, let brownies cool completely and then set aside.  Rinse blender or food processor quickly, and then measure frozen fruit and milk into the bowl.  Blend quickly, until a smoothie-like consistency is reached.  Add brownies and blend again until incorporated.  Top with crumbled brownies, if desired.  Recipe makes 1 large smoothie or 2 small ones, with leftover brownies.  You can use leftover brownies to make more smoothies or you can just eat them on their own.

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Cheesy Quinoa Bites

Fact: Snack time is the best time of the day.  If you disagree, you’re probably eating the wrong snacks.

But fear not, my friends, because I’m about to introduce you to one of the best snacks ever.  And it comes in the form of a foolproof recipe with melty cheese.  You hungry yet?

I made these last Saturday.  Then I made them again Sunday.  And upon noticing the empty plate on Monday morning, I contemplated making them again (unfortunately, I had to attend this really annoying this called School on Monday, so I couldn’t make a third batch)

The point is, however, that these little quinoa bites are straight up addicting.  They are highly snack-able, pop-able and nibble-able.  When they’re freshly baked, they taste good.  When they’re room temperature, they taste good.  When they’re cold, they taste good.

Bottom Line:  These Cheesy Quinoa Bites taste really good.

 Remember how I sad this is a foolproof recipe?  What I meant is, everything about it is easy.  It’s easy to remember, easy to make, and easy to eat.  A triple threat, perhaps?

Well, one thing’s for certain; Snack time just got waaaay better.

Cheesy Quinoa Bites

·      2 cups cooked quinoa

·      2 stalks celery, chopped

·      ½ red bell pepper, chopped

·      2 cloves garlic, minced

·      2 mozzarella cheese sticks, sliced into small pieces

·      2 eggs

·      2 tbsp flour

·      ½ tsp salt

·      ½ tsp chili powder

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease two mini muffin tins with cookie spray.
2. Measure quinoa into a large bowl. 
3. Add celery, pepper, garlic, and chopped cheese sticks.  Mix to combine.
4. Add eggs to bowl and mix until completely incorporated.  Mixture will be wet and may not hold together very well.  That’s okay.
5. Add flour, salt, and chili pepper and mix together again.  This should help to make the mixture slightly less sticky.
6. Scoop into prepared pans, filling each muffin hole to the top.  Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until quinoa bites are firm and cheese has melted. 
7. Let cool before removing from pan.  To serve, you can heat up Quinoa Bites or leave them at room temperature.  Recipe makes 2 dozen small bites.

   

On another note, has anyone been watching the olympics? Go team USA!  (Or whatever other country you're rooting for)

Cookie Dough Spread (or Dip)

Think of cookie dough.  Think of peanut butter or your favorite nut butter.  Now mash the two together into one.

The result is the recipe.

So hopefully that image you came up with sounded pretty good.  If it didn't.... you imagined it wrong ;)

Becuase this Cookie dough Spread is absolutely delicious.  It's cookie dough minus the raw eggs and rock-in-your-stomach feeling.  And you can put it on things!

Things like...

1. Pretzels
2. Fruit
3. Cookies
4. Toast
5. Spoons
6. Fingers

Morale of the story?  You want this on your plate right now.  Like, right now.

(Right now.)

Cookie Dough Spread

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 cup chickpeas
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor.  Blend until completely combined, with no oat or chickpea lumps.  Add chocolate chips and blend quickly to combine.  Transfer mixture to jar or other serving container and store in fridge until you're ready to eat it.  Makes about 1 cup of dip.

You know, I've heard cookie dough is a wonderful Valentine's Day dessert….

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies

Growing up, I skipped the peanut butter and jelly faze.  I went through a pasta faze and a chicken nugget faze and I even went through a frozen corn faze, but a PB&J faze?  Not once.

I was never the kid with a smushed sandwich in their lunch everyday, or the kid who survived solely on the jar of peanut butter and grape jelly in the fridge.  In fact, to this day, I've never had a typical Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich.

I can't really say I mind, though.  Sure, I may get some weird looks when I tell people, but it's not like I missed out by not eating that stereotypical sandwich.  White bread, Jiff peanut butter, and grape jelly?  Eh, I think I'll pass.

But take the classic flavors of a PB&J and turn them into a healthy, natural, and delicious cookie and you've got me drooling.

These cookies disappeared in under 24 hours.  I ate three in a row without even stopping for air.  I would make them again in a heartbeat.

Subtly sweet, hearty, and 100% healthy, these cookies are a triple threat.  PB&ampJ lover or not, you will adore them.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Thumbprint Cookies
Cookies:

• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla

Filling (can also be replaced with your favorite jam or jelly):

• 1 1/2 cups wild blueberries, frozen (feel free to try another frozen fruit, but I can't guarantee the results)
• 2 tbsp chia seeds
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

For Cookies:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat, or grease a baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, and cinnamon.  Mix together.  Add peanut butter, applesauce, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla and mix well until completely incorporated.  Dough will be sticky.
3. Take about 11/2 tbsp of dough and form into a ball.  Place on baking sheet.  Continue until all dough has been used.  You should have 10-12 large dough balls.  There's no need to place them far apart on the baking sheet because these cookies will not spread in the oven.
4. Using your thumb or the back of a spoon, press down in the middle of the cookies to create an indent for the jam to go in.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes.  Cookies will look under baked at first, but that's OK.  They continue to cook as they cool, so by the time the cookies have cooled down they will be fully baked.

For Filling:

1. Combine blueberries, chia seeds, and maple syrup in a cereal bowl and give them a quick stir to incorporate.
2. Microwave the bowl for about two minutes, or until the blueberries have melted and the mixture is juicy.  Microwaving times may vary depending on your microwave. (You can also do this on the stovetop, although cooking times will change)
3. Remove from microwave and place in fridge to firm up for about 30 minutes.  You will know the filling is ready when it has a jelly-like consistency and is no longer juicy.
4. Use about 1 tsp of filling to fill each cookie.  Once cookies are done, store in fridge until serving time.  Recipe makes 10-12 large cookies.

Enjoy your Wednesday everyone!

Easy Chocolate Banana Muffins

Easy food is good food.

That's why I try to make the bulk of the recipes of this site pretty simple.

But let me tell you, when you want some dessert, and you want it fast, sometimes even the easy recipes on this blog take too long to prepare.  But fear not, my fellow dessert lovers, for I have solved the problem.  This recipe for Chocolate Banana Muffins has six ingredients, comes together in less than 10 minutes, uses only one bowl, and tastes delicious to boot.

Total success!

Next time you're in need of a quick chocolate fix, look no further than these delicious muffins!

Easy Chocolate Banana Muffins

• 2 banana
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup special dark cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease 12 cups in a cupcake pan, or line a muffins pan with cupcake liners.  In a large bowl, mash bananas until smooth.  Add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, honey, and milk and mix until a smooth batter forms.  If you have trouble mixing it together, add some more milk by the tbsp. Mix in chocolate chips.  Scoop batter into prepared pan or liners until about 3/4 full.  Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until firm.  Recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

Enjoy y'all!

Dried Fruit Granola Bars

I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but in my family, we have a bit of a dried fruit problem.

It's not the eating that's the problem, it's the buying.  The quantity of dried fruit in our kitchen increases at an alarming rate, until it's practically spilling out of the cabinets.  I don't have an aversion to dried fruit (I'm looking at you, all you raisin haters), but things were getting a little out of hand.

Solution?  Make granola bars, of course.

These bars are pretty versatile.  There's a simple base of oats, oat flour, applesauce, and peanut butter, and to that you add two cups of whatever the heck you want.  Dried fruit, chocolate, nuts, seeds, sprinkles, pretty much every mix-in you can think of will work.  I used 1 1/2 cups of dried figs, dried apricots, dried cranberries, prunes, and yellow raisins (yes, I had all of that on hand), and 1/2 cup of chocolate.  Because chocolate makes everything better, right?

Once that's done, all you've gotta do is spread your batter into a pan and pop it in the oven for about half an hour.

These are not wimpy granola bars.  They make a great afternoon pick-me-up and paired with some fruit and yogurt, one bar will keep you full for hours.

I'm a fan of store bought bars, don't get me wrong, but nothing compares to a homemade snack in both the nutritional and taste department.  You're gonna want to make these bars, guys, don't miss out a recipe this good.

Dried Fruit Granola Bars

• 3 cups oat flour (to make: grind rolled oats into a fine flour in a blend, coffee grinder, or food processor)
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup honey or agave
• 2 tbsp peanut butter (or another but butter of your choice)
• 2 cups dried fruit, chocolate, and/or nuts of your choice (I used 1/2 cup chopped chocolate and 11/2 cups chopped dried fruit)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9x9 square pan.  In a large bowl, mix together oat flour, rolled oats and baking powder.  Add applesauce, honey/agave, and nut butter and mix until completely combined.  Your dough will be wet and sticky at this point.  Mix in all of your desired add-ins until evenly incorporated.  Scoop dough into prepared pan and spread into a smooth and even layer.  Bake in oven for 28-32 minutes, until slightly golden and firm to the touch.  Once cooled, slice into 18 thin bars, and store in fridge until serving time.  Bars will keep in fridge for up to one week.

Happy Friday everyone!  What are your weekend plans?

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tarts with Wild Blueberry Salsa

{By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by the Wild Blueberry Association of North America and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.}

I know, I know, this sounds weird.  Just trust me on this one.

This week is all about blueberries.  Wild blueberries, to be exact.

But aren't all blueberries the same?

No!  Wild blueberries are the smaller, more intensely flavored sibling of the blueberries you're used to seeing is stores.  They've got twice the antioxidants of cultivated blueberries and are so much fun to cook with.  The easiest way to get your hands on some wild blueberries is to check out the freezer aisle of your local grocery store.  Wild blueberries should be found with all the other frozen fruit; look for "wild" on the bag and the feel of smaller berries inside.

Because I already made one wild blueberry recipe that was sweet, I wanted to try out something savory.  Now, you must know that I'm a lot less comfortable when it comes to cooking rather than baking, so this proved to be quite the challenge.  No worries though, after much deliberation and some experiments, I came up with this quirky and delicious meal.  Let me break it down for you:

First, we have puff pastry, topped with goat cheese and caramelized onions and baked to flaky perfection.  Sounds pretty good, right?  Here's where things get funky (in a good way).  I made a lime cilantro and blueberry salsa to top the tart with right before serving.  It doesn't sound like it would work, but it so does.  There's something about the tart/sweet flavor of the blueberries and the sourness of the lime that perfectly pairs with creamy goat cheese and super sweet caramelized onions.

This is one meal that's so weird, you can't help but try it.

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tarts with Wild Blueberry Salsa
For Tarts:

• 1 sheet puff pastry dough, thawed
• 4 onions, chopped and caramelized*
• 1/4 cup goat cheese

Preheat oven to 400F.  Line two baking sheets with non-stick baking mats or parchment paper.  Roll puff pastry dough out until it's the thinnest you can make it without it ripping.  Cut into 6 even rectangles.  Place dough on baking sheets.  Take a spoonful of caramelized onions and spread on top of each rectangle.  Sprinkle each rectangle with goat cheese on top of the onions.  Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until golden-brown and flaky. 

For Salsa:

• 2 cups wild blueberries, frozen
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped**
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1-2 tsp honey 
• salt to taste

While tarts bake, make salsa.  In a medium bowl, combine blueberries, cilantro, lime, and honey.  Mix together to combine.  Taste and add salt as necessary.  Let salsa sit until tarts are ready.  In this time, the blueberries will begin to thaw slightly and make the salsa juicy and easier to eat.  I don't recommend making the salsa the day before because it will become more juice than berries by then.

When tarts are done baking, serve and then top with blueberry salsa right before eating.  Store any leftover tarts without blueberries salsa in the fridge and reheat in the microwave or oven.  Add salsa after reheating.

Notes:

* If you're not sure how to caramelize onions, here's an online tutorial 

** If you don't like cilantro, use basil, parsley or mint to replace it.  It will alter the taste, but it will still be delicious!

Craft Time - Vegetable Art

How about something a little different today?  I don't know about you, but where I live the snows coming down hard and school is closed for the day.

Pefect craft weather!

Lately I've been getting more into DIY projects.  I think they're really fun for the winter and I've been pinning craft projects like crazy over on Pinterest.

I finally decided to actually try something out (yes, I have the dreaded pin and then never try syndrome), and it came out pretty well if I do say so myself.

I call this Vegetable Art.  And yes, vegetables are necessary in the creation of the piece.  I don't call myself a food blogger for nothing ;)

Basically, it's a super fun and easy way to create unique and fun wall art.  I made mine for my room, so it's fit for a teenage girl, but you could easily change the feel of the painting based on colors and how you decide to polka-dot your canvas.

Inspiration for the project came from from this pin.

What Do You Need?

• 1 blank canvas of any size
• 4 paint colors of your choice (I went to a pain store, picked out a color swatch that I liked, and asked for a sample in each other.  It's cheap and gives you a lot of paint; enough for many more projects than this)
• Potatoes, carrots, and any other root vegetable of your choice

How Do You Make It?

1. Prepare a clean work place.  Set down your canvas and prepare your paints by pouring each one into a shallow container with a large surface area.  I used the lid of the paint containers  (see first picture)
2. Slice your vegetables into round disks.  Try to be mindful of how the shape will come out after you cut it.  Your painting will come out best if there are multiple sizes and shapes of your circles.
3. Start painting!  It's your choice as to whether you want to paint with any design in mind or just go crazy.  At first I tried to do big circles to small, but then I gave up and polka-dotted in random places.  I think it'll look pretty good no matter what you do.  The important thing to remember is not to use too much paint.  You want each stamp not to be solid, because that what makes it so cool to look at.
4. Let it dry and hang it up.  Currently, mine is sitting on my dresser, but I hope to have it up on the wall soon.  Maybe I'll post a picture once it's up.

I'll be back with the usual recipe post in a couple days.  Happy new year everyone, and here's to an awesome 2014!

"Good Luck" Golden Donuts {The Recipe ReDux}

This months Recipe ReDux theme was good luck food.  I was so out of my element.

At my house, we're not really one for superstitions or traditions (Fun Fact: We had ribs on Thanksgiving).  Because of that, I wasn't really sure what to make that would inspire good luck.  Fortune cookies...?

Luckily, this thing called the internet exists to help educate uneducated souls on the mysteries of the world.  To google I went!

After some research, I decided to make these "Golden" Donuts.  Here's why they're lucky:

• The round shape.  It signififies the year coming to a full circle and new year beginning.
• The golden color.  The color is supposed to be a sign of wealth and riches in the new year

I bet you never knew you could eat a donut for good luck, did ya?  Well, now you do.  Grab 2!

"Good Luck" Golden Donuts

• 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup (maple syrup makes them taste like pancakes!  Always a good thing)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg or egg replacement
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingredients.  In another bowl, mix together remaining ingredients.  Add wet to dry and mix until a smooth batter forms.  Scoop batter into a donut pan (any size is fine) and bake in preheated oven for about 7 minutes.  Time will vary depending on size of pan.  Remove from pan while still hot and store in an airtight container.  For a lucky year, eat on New Years ;)