Tag: Delicioso!

Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes and Fried Plantains

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It’s the last day of class!

I woke up this morning pretty excited about the last day of class.  I threw on my gym clothes, walked to the gym only to find that it was closed because of Slope Day!  So apparently Slope Day is a big deal.  Essentially, people get drunk in the morning then go to “the slope” (large hill on campus) where there is a concert.

I was pretty bummed about the gym situation, but figured it’s okay.  Instead of trying to find alternative means of exercise (i.e. go for a run) I decided going home and having breakfast was a better idea, so here I am.

But let’s backtrack to yesterday…

I had a potluck for my Urban Transformations in the Global South class.  You can probably guess that I brought dessert.  I tried to keep with the “Global South” theme. Inspired by Guatemalan Platanos en Mole, I made Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes topped with a fried plantain.

Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cayenne
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable/canola oil
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and stir together. Add all the wet ingredients minus the boiling water and mix together.  As you mix the batter, add the boiling water.  Pour into lined cupcake pan (fill half way).  This batter is really watery/runny so be careful!

Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Makes about 30 cupcakes

Frost with Spicy Chocolate Frosting and top with a fried plantain.

Spicy Chocolate Frosting

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
few shakes of cinnamon
few shakes of cayenne

Combine all ingredients and mix with a hand mixer until it reaches the right consistency, add more powdered sugar if too runny.

I was talking to a friend a few days ago, and he said he really wasn’t sure what to do with a plantain since he didn’t really see it as a child.  In light of that I thought I’d do a little plantain tutorial.

If you’re going to make fried, sweet plantains you want a really ripe plantain.  Basically you want it to look like it’s going bad:

If you’re making a South Asian dish or something like tostones, you want a green plantain.  But for now, I’m working with the super ripe!

Cut off the ends

Cut skin off lengthwise and peel.

Slice as desired.  Since I was using this as cupcake toppers I cut them in circles (ish), but for fried plantains like you would get at a Cuban restaurants cut them thicker and slightly diagonal.

Put some oil in a pan (enough to coat the bottom) and heat.  Once the oil is hot (but not too hot).  Add plantains.

Keep the flame on low and cook until golden brown on one side. Then flip over and continue to cook.

They will probably take about 10 minutes to cook through.  Then transfer them to a papertowel lined dish to soak up some of the excess oil.

Enjoy!

I loved when I walked into my apartment later in the day and it smelled like fried plantains.  Reminds me of home!  (Can’t wait to go home in 11 days!)

I should probably get ready for class!  Have a wonderful day!

Hot in Hurrrrr

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I’m not entirely sure why but despite the fact that it was in the 80s today and I live on the third floor of a building that does not have air conditioning, I turned the oven on twice.  It’s so hot in hurrr my coconut oil is entirely liquid:

I keep it on my dresser and put it on my face before going to bed.  I have some SERIOUS dry skin! Hopefully sweaty summer will make that all better and I can keep this coconut oil for cooking!

But I digress…I cooking was my way of dealing with Sunday?

Or something…

Tomorrow is the last day of the Spanish discussion section I TA.  Naturally, we’re having a party.  Naturally, that also means I made a sweet treat.

Vegan Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from Mama Pea’s White Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup almond butter
1/4 cup vegan butter (I used EarthBalance)
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup soymilk
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (omit salt if you used salted almond butter)
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 and turn on some Beyonce/Shakira.

In a bowl combine  the wet ingredients and the sugars, once those are combined, add the dry ingredients except the cherries and chocolate.  Shake your booty a little bit (especially if Shakira’s Did It Again comes on) then fold in the cherries and chocolate.

Plop golf ball sized lumps of dough onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-15 minutes depending on the size of your cookies.

To counteract the vegan-ness, enjoy with a glass of milk (or if you’re like me… lactaid)!

After cleaning up and attempting to get some reading done for a few hours, I decided I should probably have dinner.  For some reason, I decided to get creative and for some reason that had to involve the oven again, again Beyonce and Shakira kept me company, this time Rihanna joined in on the fun.

Polenta Pizza

1 cup cornmeal
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
~1 cup pasta sauce
1-2 huge handfuls of spinach, chopped
4 oz mozzarella cheese
3 artichoke hearts, chopped

Step 1: Make Polenta
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.  In a pot combine the cornmeal, water and salt.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Keep cooking, stirring constantly for another 5 minutes at least (at this point your should pretty much just be swinging your hips to the beat).  Then transfer and spread polenta on a greased baking sheet (totally forgot to grease mine). Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Step 2: Prepare toppings
Heat olive oil in a pan, add onions, garlic and red peppers.  Cook on med/low heat for about 10 minutes until tender and tasty! Mini dance party for 10 minutes while it all cooks… or you could wash some dishes… then add spinach, stir around til spinach is wilted (about 2 minutes).

Step 3: Prep Pizza
Spread pasta sauce on polenta, top with veggies, cheese and artichokes, bake for another 5-10 minutes.

Pretty tasty!  I was pleased! My friend, Liz, came over and enjoyed with me.  She liked it too!

I should probably stop dancing around the house and read, or at least go to bed so I can make the most of tomorrow.

Have a great night!

Pear Cardamom Cupcakes with Sweet Rose Frosting

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It’s that day again (you know the one…), but I’m going to ignore it and just be a happy camper, because really that’s the best way to be.  I’m generally a happy person.  I smile a lot and can laugh at pretty much anything (i.e. when I fell down the stairs on campus a few weeks ago).

Sometimes I wonder if I should even bother doing serious things in life.

While I figure that out, I’ll stick to my hobby and potentially only real skill in life: baking.

Pear Cardamom Cupcakes

1 very ripe pear, peeled and finely chopped/mashed
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 pinches of baking soda
1 tsp cardamom
1/3 cup of milk

Preheat oven to 350. Combine mashed pear, oil, vanilla and sugar.  Add one egg at a time until blended together.  Add dry ingredients, mix until just combined.  Gradually add milk, stir until well blended.

Pour batter into paper lined cupcake pan.  Bake 15-20 mins.  Makes 12 cupcakes.  Once completely cooled, frost with Sweet Rose Frosting:

Sweet Rose Frosting

1/4 cup butter, softened
1-2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp rose water

Whip together all ingredients.  Frost cupcakes.  Enjoy!

I love rose flavored sweets. They make me want to smile.

Enjoy your Sunday!  Hope you have better weather than we do here!

Switching It Up

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The past few days I’ve been in a little big of a bloggy slump.  I’ve taken pictures of things, but sadly have been unmotivated to write anything.  Perhaps because I wrote a good sized term paper or maybe my current frustrations with health food blogs.  This morning, while watching CNN on the elliptical, I heard a ridiculous news story related to food/dieting.  I started formulating a post in my head and was pretty excited to share it, but then stopped myself.

Will I offend someone?  Might this hurt a reading struggling from an eating disorder?

I don’t want either of those things to be the case.  I want this to be fun, not stressful.

So I’ve decided, at least for now, to post my healthy meals and usual fatty treats that I pawn off to my friends and stop talking about health, weight, fitness, etc.

I like food.  I’m sticking to it.

So without further delay:

Today was rainy, which meant that something warm was in order.

Black Bean “Tamale” Pie

adapted from Eggs on Sunday’s Black Bean Tamale Pie

1-3 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 cup black beans, cooked
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes with liquid
A few shakes of cinnamon
A few shakes of Cayenne
few ounces of cheese (I used 1 or 2 oz)
1 cup cornmeal
2 1/2 cups water
salt to taste
1 egg beaten
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar

In a skilled heat the oil and cook the onions and garlic for a few minutes.  Add peppers, cook for a few more minutes.  Add spices, tomatoes, beans and corn.  Bring to a boil, transfer to baking dish and sprinkle with cheese.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium sauce pan, combine water, salt and cornmeal.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, keep stirring until cornmeal is thick (about 5 minutes).  Turn off heat.  Add beaten egg, baking powder and sugar.  Top the bean mixture with the cornmeal mixture and bake for about 40 minutes.

Pretty tasty.  The “tamale” part formed a weird crust that I wasn’t a fan of, but other than that it was delicious!  It sort of reminded me of the Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake that I’m obsessed with.  I bought a plantain that is taking far too long to ripen.  As soon as that puppy is black, I’m trying to conquer the Mayan Harvest Bake!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Quinoa Granola

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Breakfast this morning was inspired by Heather.  A few days ago I saw her post on quinoa granola and after yesterday’s quinoa breakfast, I knew I had to try it ASAP!

I had mind with greek yogurt and a sliced banana.

Seriously. Best homemade breakfast I’ve ever had!  That’s saying a lot!

I tweeked her version a bit. Here’s my recipe for a single serving:

Coconut Quinoa Granola

inspired by Quinoa Granola

1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 tbsp flax
1 tbsp unsweetened coconut
1 tbsp agave
cinnamon

Rinse the quinoa.  Combine all the ingredients and spread on a baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 mins, stirring occasionally.

This was all sorts of delicious!  The whole meal also had about 20g of protein!  Kept me full for a pretty long time (5 hours?).

Definitely recommend it.

Ugh too much to read tonight!  Have a good one!

Yellow Cupcakes with Chocolate Icing and Other Delicious Eats

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I baked last night! I used Pioneer Woman‘s Recipe for Yellow Cupcakes with Sticky Chocolate Icing.

Oh

My

Goodness

These may be the best things I’ve ever made, solely based on the icing.  I messed it up a little and used too much sweetened condensed milk and not enough chocolate so it ended up a bit saucy.   Which meant it was perfect for drizzling on popcorn…

My roommate enjoyed!

Along with splitting one with me.  Need to make sure they’re safe to eat after all.

This morning after a rockin’ workout, I dug through the fridge looking for breakfast.  I wasn’t in the mood for oatmeal (gasp) since it was 71 degrees this morning!  Instead, I found some quinoa that needed to be consumed and decided to experiment:

Greek Yogurt + Banana + Quinoa + Ground Flax + Cinnamon = Delicious!

It was particularly amazing with sips of coffee, which leads me to believe it would be delicious to try this but cooking the quinoa in coffee to give it that flavor.  I’ll give that a try at some point and let you know how it goes.

Then I went to class and got my study on.  Remember my to do list from yesterday?  Here’s my progress:

  • Finish Reading Good Governance in the Tropics (self imposed deadline: today… hmm might not happen, 90 50 pgs left)
  • Reading for Urban Transformations in the Global South (need to be done tonight, 3 of 5 readings done so far… Africa makes me sad…)
  • Reading response for above mentioned readings (by tonight at midnight)
  • Readings for Urban Spatial Theory (err… might not get to these)
  • Term Paper on Good Governance book mentioned above (due Tuesday Thursday, no idea what to write about… good governance?)
  • Econ problem set due Thursday (luckily almost done)
  • Methods problem set (basically kicking my butt, spent 4 hours on it Sunday only to do 1.5 questions out of 5… meeting with study group tonight, due Monday)

4 out of 7 things done!  Woo!  Also my paper has been extended and is now due Thursday! Super excited!  I’m actually surprised at how much lower my stress level is now as compared to a month ago.  I guess the changes I’ve made in life have been really helpful!   How are you all holding up with stress?

Back to food…

I came home after class and was pretty much starving.  While this morning I had planned to make a peanut stew (a la stew in a jar), all I really wanted was a HUGE salad.  So I started with a layer of spinach and romaine mixed together, added some sliced cucumber, one piece of artichoke heart and some wheatberries and topped it with some dressing.

Then, the exciting part…

I added a poached egg, because let’s be realistic, everything tastes better with a good runny yolk.

My meal ended with another amazing combo: toast + cottage cheese + jam + flax

Aaaamazing!

Now I’m ready to read more, catch up on blogland (don’t think I’ve looked at the internet today!) and watch the episode of Lost that I missed last night!  Hope you all have a fab night!

P.S.  I was sent this NY Times Article about people who take pictures of food by at least 3 people today… I thought it was cute that some friends thought of me when they saw food photography.  Anyone else see this article and smile?

Hot Cross Buns

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I took a cue from Mama Pea last night and got ready for Good Friday. While I hummed the tune in my head, I baked some hot cross buns.

I proceeded to distribute them to my schoolmates today.  Hope they were appreciated.

I enjoyed a few of these for breakfast (not the healthiest but that’s okay) with some coffee in this mug:

Quite fitting.  Makes me laugh.

I also had Hot Non-Denominational Buns (without the cross).

I thought they were pretty delicious! A nice treat for Good Friday.

Today was another gorgeous day!  We had a high of 83!  I wore a sundress and life was great!

Today was also Open House for my department so I spent a good portion of the day showing around prospective students, which was kind of fun.

Thank goodness for the weekend!  Even though I have a ton of work to get done, I also have so many shows to catch up on!  Lost, Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, Mad Men!  Where to start!?!

Hopefully I’ll get to catch up on blogs with weekend too!   I’m pooped!  Have a great night!

April Will be AAAAmazing!

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Happy April Everyone!

I hate April Fool’s Day!  Sorry to be a scrooge (what? wrong holiday?), but I won’t even pretend to be pregnant or dropping out of school or anything of that shocking sort.  Are you a fan of April Fool’s Day??

Today has starting out wonderfully!!

Reason #1: It’s SUNNY out and there is going to be a high of 78!!!!

Check out the sunshine radiating from my fire escape!!

See Lauren‘s post on Vitamin D

Reason #2: Amazing oats in my new bowl! Isn’t it cute?

My oats may not be as fancy as some, but my oat + banana +yogurt + almond butter combo is the best thing on Earth to me!  Case in point:

Reason #3:  Delicious lunch!

At Allie‘s suggestion I had a tempeh + pumpkin butter + spinach sandwich.  Yes there is tempeh and pumpkin butter amongst that mountain of spinach.

OMG delicious!  Try it!  Even better than yesterday’s sandwich!

Reason #4: Yesterday I got Mad Men season 3 arrived in the mail.  Thus I can continue my love/hate relationship with Don Draper.

Reason #5: Class was outside today!  I got to argue with someone, which is fun because usually it’s a huge group of people sitting around agreeing with each other.

Reason #6: Fantastic work out this morning!  It flew by!  I did 4 miles on the T-Mill while watching Tyra Banks’ E! True Hollywood Story.  I love trash TV!

So I’m posting this later than expected but today has been a great day so far!  To be honest, I’m not sure how much work I’m going to get done the rest of the day, but I’m a happy camper!

Hope your day has been as pleasant as mine!!

Tomorrow is Friday!!! WOO!

Toad in a Hole + Eggplant Deliciousness

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Sometimes, I want to make something, but don’t want to eat it (this happens pretty often with a lot of sweets).  This morning I made the fella something fun that I like to make but don’t like to eat (namely because of my irrational aversion to crispy egg): Toad in a Hole.

I used Apple Oat Bread from Wegman’s.  Cut a hole in with a cup.  Buttered the bread.

Put it in a pan on medium heat.

Cracked in an egg.

Covered it for 3 minutes (ish)

Flipped and served!

Thank goodness the lovely fella was around to eat it!

Are a fan of toad in a hole?

Later in the day, I tried one of Jenn’s recipes that looked absolutely amazing: Eggplant Lasagna!

This isn’t your average lasagna!  Instead of pasta noodles it has QUINOA!

I followed her recipe almost exactly except I used some pasta sauce Rhoda made and added some chopped spinach to bulk up the sauce with extra veggies.

OMG delicious!  Make it now! Perfect for those who aren’t huge fans of pasta like me 🙂

Jenn, this is flat out wonderful!

Did anyone watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution tonight? In case you missed it, you can watch it online free at abc.com.  Since you all had a lot of great feedback/comments on my previous post on Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, I’ll dedicate a whole post to the new episode in the days to come.

Ugh spring break is almost over 😦 Say it ain’t so!

Enjoy your night!!

Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of

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Hi all!

I’m back!  NYC was great!  I’ll give a short photo recap of the happenings.  I took pictures of some meals, not all (since most people in my program don’t know I have a food blog… sort of embarrassing… oh well).

The trip started off Thursday (after a 5 hr bus ride) at the Brooklyn Army Terminal…

Where we got a tour on a NYC Water Taxi.

It was amazing!  We talked about maritime transport (because planner worry about these things…)

and infrastructure

and the other New York type things…

Then we headed to our hotel and to a reception with other Cornell Alums at Rockefeller Center.  Wine and appetizers were enjoyed… delicious! Then there was an unphotographed night of enjoyment (may have had a little too much wine…).

The next morning, I got up bright and early and headed to Balthazar Bakery for breakfast, where I got the most amazing asparagus, mushroom and cheese croissant and some pretty tasty coffee:

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

My friend, Celia, got a chocolate croissant.

Looked amazing as well.  After that we headed up to Harlem for a tour of Harlem.  Awesome looking outdoor grocery store (perfect for my food systems planning interest)

and on our lunch break I got a mango with lime, salt and chile!

Sooo delicous!  They’re better in LA but this was great after not having had one in so long!  Actual lunch was unpictured “soul food”… Collard greens, rice and beans and plantains… soo good!

Then we headed to the High line, which is basically every planner’s dream.  It’s an old rail line that was converted into public space.  Pretty cool in my opinion.

Then some more walking around, over to Battery Park and the Irish Hunger Memorial (no idea this existed)

and finally ground zero.  The night ended with a broadway show: Fela!

I was thoroughly entertained.  Great African booty shaking and an interesting message (kind of sad at times).  Definitely recommend it, although I know not everyone liked it. After the show there was fun-ness with friends.

Saturday, we headed back to Ithaca at noon.  I had a fun time!  It was nice to hang out with my CRP friends and not have to worry about school work.  Spring break starts now!  So excited to do absolutely nothing!

Tomorrow will be spend lounging, catching up on blog reading, maybe baking and potentially watching the Cornell basketball game with some friends.

Glad (but maybe a little sad) to be back!  Have a great Sunday!!