Moroccan Spice Blend

February 27, 20142 Comments

As we’ve previously discussed, dinner is a struggle for me. Waking up at 5:15am to workout, then going to work all day leaves me little motivation to make a meal when 5:30pm rolls around, especially if it’s just for me. I’m one of those people that prefers to cook for others. Cooking for myself is extremely unappealing.

When Jesse has dinner with me, it’s awesome. I tend to make an actual meal, but most days, on my own, I tend to snack. So I’m trying to come up with better solutions. My number one solution right now is to keep it simple.

So in my quest to keep things simple, yet flavorful, I discovered a Moroccan Spice Blend that is so versatile you can basically kick up any plain dish without adding fat. The best part is you can control how much salt goes in it.

Moroccan Spice Blend

Adapted from Epicurious

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt (or less if you’d like)*
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp mace

Combine all ingredients until well blended. Store in an air tight container until ready to use.

*Feel free to adjust the amount of salt. You can completely omit it, if you’re trying to go low sodium. You can also add more if you like things salty (the original recipe calls for 1 tsp of salt, but I tried that and thought it was too much. 1/2 tsp was more to my liking).

I mixed up a bunch to keep on hand for easy meals. So far using this blend I’ve made: Moroccan Spiced Chicken Thighs and Moroccan Spice Tilapia.

Super easy! In both cases, I sprinkled the chicken (bone-in thighs, skin and excess fat removed) or fish generously with the spice blend and baked. Both times it turned out awesome! I can’t wait to keep making this. If you’re interested, I can do a full recipe post on either of these. Let me know if you’re interested.

Tonight, the ultimate quick dinner for 1: I took a piece of tilapia, covered it in moroccan spice blend, then roasted it along side some asparagus for 17 minutes at 400F. Done in less than 20 minutes, and easy clean up. I like it.

Give this Moroccan Spice Blend a try! It’s a great way to add a ton of flavor while still keeping things healthy.

What’s your favorite quick and easy weeknight meal?

Healthy Baked Turkey Meatballs

February 26, 2014February 25, 20147 Comments

This past weekend was a very Italian weekend for me. I went to the Getty Villa.

If you’re in Southern California and haven’t been to the Getty Villa, you should go. I grew up here and had never been. It’s a beautiful museum built to look like a villa you would around Pompeii or Herculanum around 30 AD. It’s seriously beautiful, not to mention the exhibits are awesome.

To add to the Southern Italian-ness of the weekend, Jesse and I also saw Pompeii. While I question the historical accuracy, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s as if Titanic and Gladiator came together to make one ridiculous film.

If there’s one thing Pompeii taught me, it’s that Jon Snow is hot in a skirt. After leaving the theatre, the one thing both Jesse and I had to comment on was Jon Snow‘s abs (because Kit Harington will forever be known as Jon Snow to me).

Image source: Torontosun.com

First we thought, those have to be digitally enhanced or airbrushed. No one can have abs like that. Of course then the conversation transitioned to: how does one get those abs?

I did some research. Basically, if you want abs you have to lose fat and build muscle (no surprises here). Vanity Fair confirmed with an interview by the actors of the movie:

The four-hour workout: two hours of fight training with weapons, an hour of weight lifting, an hour of cardio, and an 1,800-calorie diet “designed specifically for our bodies to be attuned to lose fat and pop out muscles,” Akinnuoye-Agbaje told us.

Great.

So for the rest of us that aren’t working out for four hours a day or consuming a diet “designed specifically for our bodies to be attuned to lose fat and pop out muscles,” we should probably just stick to eating clean and maybe increasing our protein.

I’m not really in the market for Jon Snow abs (yep, that’s what I’m calling them now), but getting fit is always a good idea. So to help you in that direction, I made you dinner:

Healthy Baked Turkey Meatballs

1 lb lean ground turkey (from 1 package in the meat section)
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 tbsp fresh chopped mint
1 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
1 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Using your hands work together all ingredients and form into golf-ball sized meat balls. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until cooked through (note: this might vary depending of the size of your meatballs and your oven).

Serve over cauliflower puree, on spaghetti squash or with your vegetable of choice and enjoy! This recipe will make about 20 meatballs.

This low carb (paleo, gluten-free) meal will get you in the right direction to getting those Jon Snow abs. Or if you’re like me and you just want to be a little bit healthy, to balance out an enormous piece of cake, this meal is great for that too.

Anyone else see Jon Snow’s abs in Pompeii and have their jaw drop?

German Nachos (ish): Baked Fries with Sauerkraut, Sausage and Muenster Cheese Sauce

February 18, 2014February 17, 20148 Comments

I love mustard. No really. Like a lot. For as long as I can remember, mustard has been one of my favorite condiments. Even the cheap yellow mustard you get on Subway sandwiches (no mayo, extra mustard please). I love it. It adds such a nice flavor profile to most foods.

But fancy mustard, that’s a whole different ball game.

Recently, I got in touch with the guys at Green Mountain Mustard. They make fancy pants mustard, but in the least pretentious way possible.

But anyway, these guys know mustard. They sent me two jars of their mustard so I could make an EPIC grilled cheese sandwich. While the grilled cheese sandwich is still in the works, I had this idea and had to make it asap. It involved one of the mustard flavors they sent me: Deli Dirt. Their Deli Dirt tastes like all the goodness of a deli put into one little jar, and this mustard is THICK. It’s basically the consistency of hummus, which is awesome.

I’m in love. And thus, this creation was born:

One of the things that I love about mustard is that it adds a ton of flavor to food without a ton of fat (or calories). You know I like to make things as light as I can. So while this looks fatty and decadent, it’s a little bit lighter than you would think (please note, I’m not actually saying this is healthy, but it’s better than eating something deep fried).

Oh and I should probably mention that I had no idea what to call this. I couldn’t really call it a “Pile of Deliciousness,” which is what it is. So instead I thought of a more Pinterest-friendly name: German Nachos (ish). Ish is a really important qualifier here. Enjoy.

German Nachos (ish): Baked Fries with Sauerkraut, Sausage and Muenster Cheese Sauce

3 large potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Deli Dirt mustard
1 sausage (bratwurst are tasty. true story.), sliced
1/2-1 cup sauerkraut
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp Deli Dirt Mustard
1 cup milk (I used non-fat)
3 oz Muenster cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 425F. Slice potatoes into fry shape.

Toss with 2 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of Deli Dirt. Sprinkle with salt and lay on a cooling rack that is placed over a baking sheet.

This will help your fries get crisp all around and keep the bottoms from burning. Bake 30-40 minutes or until fries are golden and crispy (start checking them after about 30 minutes, since everyone’s oven is different and you might have cut yours thinner than mine). While your fries bake up, have a dance party. This is not optional.

10 minutes before your fries are ready to go (aka 20 or so minutes after you put them in the oven), brown your sausage in a pan and set aside. Then make your cheese sauce.

Melt butter in a sauce pan, add flour and stir together. Cook for 2 minutes or until golden. Stream in milk very slowly while whisking to break up any clumps that form. Once you’ve added all the milk and whisked smooth. Whisk in the mustard and cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Now assemble. Lay some fries on a plate. Top with sauerkraut (you’ll note in the recipe I said 1/2-1 cup, because I love sauerkraut and ended up adding a ton more after I photographed, but if you don’t care for it as much, add less) and sausage, then drizzle with cheese sauce. Serve immediately.

This recipe will serve 2-4 people. Confession: Jesse and I devoured the entire thing. I don’t feel guilty.

The perfect bite will include a bit of potato, sauerkraut and sausage. I promise it’s delicious. If you wanted to keep this low carb, I bet this would be delicious if you replaced the potatoes with spaghetti squash. Ok, I might have to try that ASAP.

I can’t wait to try more recipes with this awesome mustard. Don’t worry, grilled cheese is coming soon!

Do you love mustard? What’s your condiment of choice?

Bleeding Hearts: Brie-Chocolate-Raspberry Hand Pies

February 13, 20146 Comments

I started out wanting to do another cutesy Valentine’s Day treat, but then I remembered that Valentine’s Day is a totally made up holiday (as all holidays are, I suppose). And really, some people hate it. I can’t say that’s the case for me, but I know for many, there is heart break and sorrow that goes along with this Hallmark holiday. And you know what? They deserve a treat too.

So this Valentine’s Day, if you want to stick it to the man, make yourself these hand pies.

It’s basically like saying F-you to sprinkles and red roses. So go for it. And just to warn you, I’m saying F-you to the idea of having a full recipe on a blog today. This is sort of a wing-it-non-recipe recipe. Be brave. Try it.

Brie-Chocolate-Raspberry Hand Pies

Pie Crust of your choosing (like the one here)
Brie (a few ounces)
Raspberries (a small container will do)
Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 375F.

Roll out your favorite pie crust a little on the thin side (because the whole point is for the dough to crack so raspberry can seep out). Using heart shaped cookie cutters, cut out heart shapes (or any shape you want really, if you have duckie cookie cutters, you’re awesome and you should use those).

Spread about 1 tsp of brie (not the rind, just the center creamy part) onto the center of a heart. The top with a few chocolate chips (maybe 6? or go crazy fit as many in there as possible), and 1 raspberry cut in half. Obviously, how much you fit in there is going to depend on the size of your cookie cutter. Mine was about 3 inches at the wides part of the heart.

Place another heart on top of the brie/choco/raspberry goodness. Use a fork and press down the edges to bind. It’s ok if the dough cracks and breaks. That’s kind of the point and exactly how you get the bleeding heart look. So if your hand pies fall apart then you’re winning. Put those bad boys in the oven and bake 20-25 minutes or until golden all around. Allow to cool and serve. With one double pie crust recipe (or a box of frozen pie crust from the store), you’ll probably get about a 2-3 dozen hand pies depending on the size of the cookie cutter. This means you’ll need a few ounces of brie and a small pack of raspberries, in case you’re trying to estimate how much you need from my non-recipe.

Oh and if you’re going to tell me brie + chocolate sounds like a gross combo, keep the haterade to yourself.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Easy Marshmallow Frosting

February 11, 2014February 11, 201432 Comments

I’m going to ask you to brace yourself, because I can already tell that what I recently discovered is going to cause a whirlwind over here at Foodologie.

Marshmallow Frosting

Why hadn’t I tried making this before? Oh I know why… it seemed too complicated and not worth my time.

Well, let me just tell you. It’s totally worth it and not nearly as difficult or time consuming as I thought it would be. All the recipes I read required 8-10 egg whites, too much cracking… corn syrup, um no. But finally I found one without corn syrup that was easily to scale down and gave it a try. Thank you, Martha Stewart, for introducing me to marshmallow frosting.

Easy Marshmallow Frosting

from Martha Stewart

2 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 big pinch of cream of tartar*
1 pinch of salt

Place a glass bowl over a sauce pan that has about 1 inch of water in it, make sure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl (aka build a double boiler). Add egg whites, sugar, vanilla extract, cream of tartar and salt. Mix together. Heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves and the egg whites are warm when you touch them.

Transfer egg white mixture to a stand mixer and attach whisk attachment. Stir on low and turn up the speed every 15 seconds or so until it’s on high speed. Beat 5-7 minutes or until glossy, stiff peaks form.

Frost cupcakes and serve! Refrigerate if you’re not using it right away. This recipe will make enough to frost about 8-10 cupcakes using a lot of frosting per cupcake (as I did in this photo), or 1 small 6 inch cake. I would probably double the recipe if you are doing a larger cake or 2 dozen cupcakes. *Note: the original recipe called for 8 egg whites, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar, so when I scaled it down I just did a big pinch. If you double this recipe, use 1/4 tsp cream of tartar.

I’m seriously amazed at how delicious and easy it was to make this marshmallow frosting. I already have a million ideas for variations on this type of frosting. What I really loved about it is that it’s super light and NOT sickeningly sweet like other frostings I’ve had. I almost want to say I’d add more sugar next time, but I think this would be the perfect frosting for an already sweet cake.

So be prepared for lots of cupcakes to come!

What’s your favorite type of frosting? I usually love chocolate ganache or just plain whipped cream, but this marshmallow frosting is going to be on the top of my list now.

P.S. Two days left to enter the Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams Giveaway! Head over to Facebook to enter! Click the Giveaway tab! Make sure to tell your friends and get extra entries daily by tweeting about the giveaway.

Lemon-Rosemary Cut Out Cookies

February 8, 2014February 8, 20148 Comments

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find holidays exhausting, and I can’t deal with the over-the-top decorations. Pinterest is currently reeking of Valentine’s Day. Everything is red and pink, dipped in chocolate and covered in bright sprinkles. That’s fun, but sometimes it’s overwhelming.

For me, Valentine’s Day should be unique to you and your special someone. This Valentine’s Day, skip the red velvet dark chocolate dipped strawberries covered in pink, red and white (<— not an actual thing), and give these a try.

They’re different, interesting and tasty. I don’t know about you but I love rosemary and lemon together. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, in my opinion.

And let me just go ahead and say… If you have a tea party, because every once in a while we need to relive our childhood and have full blown tea parties, I’m going to request that you make these cookies.

Lemon-Rosemary Cut Out Cookies

adapted from AllRecipes

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
white chocolate chip, sprinkles, royal icing, etc. for decorating

Beat together butter and shortening until fluffy, about a minute. Add sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Add egg and beat another minute. Add lemon zest and rosemary and beat for 1 minute. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm (about 1-2 hours).

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Roll out dough on a clean floured surface. Cut to desired shapes. I used small hearts and medium sized hearts, to keep with the Valentine’s day theme, but you can use whatever shape you like. Lay on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden on edges. The baking time will vary depending on the size of the cookie. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Once the cookies have cooled, you can serve them as is, or decorate them. I chose to dip mine in white chocolate and cover them in white sparkling sprinkles. If you do, just microwave some white chocolate chips, add a bit of oil to get it runnier, then dip and place on parchment paper to harden for a few hours. Alternatively, you can get your royal icing skillz on and decorate that way. I gave that a whirl too, but still not pleased with my decorating skills so no pictures of that.

You might be thinking: Rosemary in a cookie? Are you nuts? But it works. I promise. Go ahead, take a chance and make these for Valentine’s Day or a tea party.

How do you feel about putting herbs in your sweets? I’m a big fan of raspberry and sage together!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the Dark Chocolate Dreams Giveaway. Head over to Facebook and enter by clicking the “Giveaway” tab on my page.

Soft Pretzels

January 9, 20146 Comments

I’m more sore than I can possibly explain. Like so sore I can’t sleep.

Don’t worry, I’m not going crazy with resolutions. I’ve been going to crossfit 3-4 times per week for the past few months. This week I’ve gone twice, and my shoulders and back are killing me. But enough about soreness, because aside from my aching shoulders something else is bothering me this time of year: diet-palooza.

I love all the salad recipes floating around, and I’m all for people getting healthy. I wish it would happen year round, not just the first 3 weeks of January.

But can we call agree to stop calling lighter versions of fatty foods “skinny”? You know what I’m talking about.

Skinny Vanilla Latte= Latte with Low-Fat Milk and Sugar Free Syrup
Skinny Nacho Dip= Some sort of cheesy dip probably made with non-fat greek yogurt
Skinny Onion Rings= No, they’re not just cut thin. They’re probably FAT pieces of onion rolled in whole wheat bread crumbs and baked.

I absolutely hate the word “skinny” when it comes to people and food. I’m going to avoid “skinny” and talk about something that will get you nowhere toward achieving the goal of “skinny”… Soft Pretzels

Carb-y. Delicious. Thigh-gap’s worst nightmare.

Soft Pretzel

from Chow

1 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 (1/4-ounce) packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
Canola oil spray (like Pam or whatever)
2 3/4 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
6 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda

Place warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer. I don’t measure the temperature, I just turn the water on hot from the sink and that’s usually the right temperature. Add yeast and allow to sit for 5 minutes, until foamy. If your yeast/water combo isn’t bubbley, throw it out. It’s no good!

In another bowl, whisk together bread flour, sugar and salt. Attach the dough hook to your stand mixer. Add flour to yeast mixture and turn your mixer on low. Mix for 10 minutes. Transfer dough to a greased bowl. Cover with a towel and place in a warm spot to rise for half an hour.

Prep your baking sheets by lining two baking sheets with parchment paper and spraying with cooking spray. Once your dough has risen, punch down and knead by hand for another minute. Divide dough into 16 small balls. Take each ball and roll into a long string, then twist into pretzel shape. For photos on how to do this, check out Chow.

Place prepared pretzels on baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for 10 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 425F and boil 6 cups of water. Once water has boiled, add baking soda. Add pretzels (depending on the size of your pot, you might be able to fit 4-5 pretzels at a time). Boil one minute per side. Then transfer to baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt.

Once you’ve boiled them all. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until dark brown. Allow to cool and serve!

If you’re still feeling the resolutions, feel free to have this with some skinny cheese-beer dip. I’m sure you can find that recipe somewhere on Pinterest. Just kidding.

But for real. These pretzels are awesome and surprisingly easier to make than I would have expected!

How are your New Year’s Resolutions coming along?

I’m slowly on my way to being able to do a pullup. I did one with the thinnest red band this week! Woo!

2013 Highlights

December 31, 2013December 31, 20136 Comments

I hate to be that person, but I’m going to say it: I can’t believe 2013 is coming to a close. Seriously, where did the year go?

I remember when I was in college, my friend Hazel would laugh at me because I recounted my days through my meals. So in traditional Karla (Foodologie) fashion, let me recount my year by favorite things I made/ate.

In January, I was all sorts of awesome (modest, right?). I made two of my favorite things:

Bourbon Banana Pie

Orange-Pistachio Biscotti

Seriously, those are probably my two favorite sweets I made all year. So much so that I made them for Christmas. After January, I had clearly eaten too much pie and biscotti so I felt the need to do a crazy thing: a 30 day paleo challenge.

It was a shit storm, for lack of better words. If you want to relive that (I don’t, but that’s cool), check out these posts:

Paleo Challenge: Day 1
Paleo Challenge: Day 2
Paleo Challenge: Day 3 & 4
Paleo Challenge: Day 5, 6, & 7
Paleo Challenge: Day 8 (Plus 1 Week Thoughts)
Paleo Challenge: Day 9 & 10
Paleo Challenge: Day 11
Paleo Challenge: Day 13 (apparently 12 doesn’t exist?)
Paleo Challenge: Ending Early <— spoiler I quit!
Life After the Paleo Challenge

But after Paleo, I became a semi-normal person again. I tried to make healthy things

Like Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash

and Eggplant Rolls to balance out my ridiculous desire to ALWAYS eat cake

This year, I also made awesome blogger friends. Now I can say Allison from Sweet Potato Bites and Samantha from Little Ferraro Kitchen are real life friends, which is cool! Who wants to be real life friends next year?

(photo stolen from Sweet Potato Bites)

This year I also decided food parties were a good idea. So I started with a Fried Chicken and Waffles party.

Because I had never fried chicken and that seemed like a good idea. It was.

Then Allison and I teamed up with Peanut Butter & Co and threw a Peanut Butter Party.

That was all sorts of fun. Next year, I’d like to do a pancake party, a cocktail party and, if we get crazy, a tamale making party, because why not?

Then let’s not forget how in 2013 I became obsessed with protein powders. And it continues because I keep putting protein powder in everything, like these pancakes…

But the highlight of the year for me was our trip to Peru

We hiked, we ate guinea pig, saw llamas, walked everywhere and had a great time. It was amazing. I only wish it could have been longer.

Now that 2013 is almost over, I’m excited for 2014. I hope you’ll follow me along next year as I continue to make sweets and healthy things to cut the guilt. I promise I’ll keep the crossfit talk to a minimum and I’ll keep taking pictures of myself in dressing rooms and sharing those, like this shirt I bought yesterday…

Just kidding! Well, actually, no I’ll probably still do that, but I promise one day I’ll get over that habit.

Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve filled with Champagne, goodies, friends and family! I wish you the best in the New Year and thank you for following my blog in 2013!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Arugula Salad with Lentils and Spiced Butternut Squash

December 27, 2013December 30, 201310 Comments

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a very happy Christmas, ate lots delicious food and spent time with family.

With my family, our holidays revolve around food and this Christmas was no different. We ate tons of tamales

and the only times we weren’t eating were the short walks we took to hang out with the neighbor’s llamas, ponies and donkeys.

No, I’m not back in Peru. People in LA County have pet llamas. But other than llama sighting. We mostly ate.

I don’t know about you, but after Christmas eating, I need vegetables. Well really, I just think I need to eat normal, so that’s what I’m trying to do, but adding a few extra vegetables in there for good measure.

This morning, I finally tried Kodiak Cakes. If you follow me on Twitter, Instagram or Like Foodologie on Facebook, you’ll remember that I won a few boxes of Kodiak Cakes through their 12 days of giveaways. I decided to make some this morning

Along with their red raspberry syrup. Overall, they’re super tasty! What I especially love is that they use all natural ingredients (and not to mention easy! You just add water!).

Then for lunch, I had this amazing salad.

It might not look that magical, but I promise it is. It’s light but hearty enough to be a meal on its own. The mint makes it taste fresh and clean. I’ve been making this salad for years so to be perfectly honestly, I can’t remember where I discovered it. Someone deserves credit, I just can’t remember who.

Arugula Salad with Lentils and Spiced Butternut Squash

adapted from somewhere I can’t remember…

1/2 butternut squash, diced
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 to 1 cup lentils, dry
6 cups arugula1/4 cup fresh chopped mint
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
4 oz (or more) goat cheese

Pre-heat oven to 375F. Toss diced butternut squash with paprika, cumin, 1 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet at bake for 15 minutes. Toss and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until crispy and cooked through. Please note: this cooking time may vary depending how how big you diced the butternut squash and how intense your oven is, so check it every so often and toss to make sure it doesn’t burn.

While the butternut squash roasts, cook the lentils. Cover in water and boil about 20 minutes (or until tender). Once cooked through, rinse and set aside.

Once the lentils and squash are ready, assemble the salad. In a large bowl, toss together arugula, mint, 2 tbsp olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Scoop some of the salad on a plate, top with goat cheese, lentils and butternut squash. Serve and enjoy!

Feel free to made adjustments. I love mint so I’m a fan of tons of mint. Don’t love mint? Omit it. Out of goat cheese or hate its guts? Replace it with manchego! If you don’t like manchego, then we just can’t be friends. But if you want to make it vegan and omit the cheese, I’m a-okay with that.

I have a feeling this is going to be salad week for me. Be on the look out for some healthy eats and New Years resolutions in the days to come!

How was your Christmas? What was the best thing you ate?

Salted Almond Joy Bark

December 21, 20135 Comments

With Christmas and the New Year on the horizon, I have two goals for today:

1. Clean out my closet/dresser of unwanted garments

I have too much stuff. I have clothing I don’t wear and even more that doesn’t fit. One of the fantastic things about lifting weights is that my body shrank. It’s great! But it means that I don’t own any pants that fit me. So I want to clear out the stuff that doesn’t fit me any more, because there’s no room in my shoebox of an apartment for clothing that is too big or old.
2. Bake Christmas Cookies for gifts

I love baking and Christmas is the perfect time to bake treats and give them away. So today and tomorrow will consist of Christmas baking. I had my recipes all planned out, but then yesterday when I arrived to Crossfit, Allison told me she had something for me. She handed me a lovely tin filled with homemade salted chocolate coconut almond bark.

At this point it was nearly 6am and not an appropriate time to eat chocolate. So I put it in my car, got my butt kicked during the WOD and went to work. I have this rule during the holidays (since there are so many treats floating around) that I’m allowed to have a sweet treat AFTER lunch.

This means waiting til I have a nutritious (or semi-nutritious because yesterday my boss took us to Umami Burger for lunch and that’s clearly NOT nutritious) before enjoying goodies and also cutting down on how much I eat. I have a hard time stopping once I start, so I found it’s better for me to just start later. But anyway…

So I waited until after lunch and had a piece of Allison’s delicious bark.

OMG

OMG

OMG

It was awesome. Let me just tell you, I gave some to co-workers and to Jesse, but the reality is I ate it mostly myself. Today, as of 2pm… the bark is gone. As in, I finished it all after lunch today.

Because this bark was so amazing I wanted to try to make it on my own and give it to my loved ones. I’ve decided to rename it Salted Almond Joy Bark, because that’s sort of what it reminded me of.

Salted Almond Joy Bark

from Sweet Potato Bites

10 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks)
1/2 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
1/2 cup Roasted Coconut Chips*
Coarse Sea Salt

First, prepare your pan by lining a cookie sheet with parchment. Set aside.

Next, pour chocolate into a microwave safe bowl.

Microwave 30 seconds then stir. Microwave another 30 seconds and stir, repeat until chocolate is melted and smooth. You can also do this in a pan or double boiler, but I’ll be honest, the microwave is a million times easier. It’s also idiot-proof. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had my chocolate seize when using a double boiler, because water in chocolate (steam included!) might cause it to seize.

Because of this, I take the easy route and use the microwave. Once your chocolate is melted and smooth, pour about 3/4 of the chocolate into the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Using a spatula, smooth until it’s a tiny bit thick (if you like your bark thicker, leave it thicker, if you want it thinner, spread it more). It doesn’t have to be perfect because you’re going to cover it with stuff anyway…

Sprinkle chocolate with coconut and almonds. Take the remaining chocolate and drizzle it overs the coconut and almonds.

Sprinkle with sea salt (be generous! That’s seriously the best part!) and refrigerate or freeze until firm.

Once the chocolate is completely hardened (it took about an hour for me, if not it’ll start to melt when you touch it), break the bark into pieces.

Store in an air tight container in a cool spot for up to a week.

*I used Trader Joe’s Roasted Coconut Chips, but if there’s no Trader Joe’s near you, you can just use toasted coconut.

This stuff was seriously amazing. The salt really takes this from normal tasty chocolate bark to something out of this world. Everyone that tried it loved it. I’m really excited to share this with others along with Orange-Pistachio Biscotti, Molasses Cookies, Chocolate Mint Cookies and maybe another cookie or two. Any suggestions?

Are you giving Christmas Cookies this season? If so, what are your top cookies or treats to gift?

Foodologie

A Blog about Balancing Health with a Constant Desire to Eat Cake

Tag: food

Moroccan Spice Blend

Moroccan Spice Blend

Healthy Baked Turkey Meatballs

Healthy Baked Turkey Meatballs

German Nachos (ish): Baked Fries with Sauerkraut, Sausage and Muenster Cheese Sauce

German Nachos (ish): Baked Fries with Sauerkraut, Sausage and Muenster Cheese Sauce

Bleeding Hearts: Brie-Chocolate-Raspberry Hand Pies

Brie-Chocolate-Raspberry Hand Pies

Easy Marshmallow Frosting

Marshmallow Frosting

Easy Marshmallow Frosting

Lemon-Rosemary Cut Out Cookies

Lemon-Rosemary Cut Out Cookies

Soft Pretzels

Soft Pretzel

2013 Highlights

Arugula Salad with Lentils and Spiced Butternut Squash

Arugula Salad with Lentils and Spiced Butternut Squash

Salted Almond Joy Bark

OMG

Salted Almond Joy Bark