Tag: Tasty Treat

Pies Galore!

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Happy Pi(e) day!

My department had a pie contest!  I made Peanut Butter Banana Cream pie!

Graham cracker crust.

Layer of dark chocolate.

Layer of Peanut Butter.

Layer of homemade vanilla custard mixed with fresh sliced bananas.

Topped with real whipped cream.

How can you go wrong with PB, Chocolate AND Banana all in one delicious pie!?!?!

I thought it was pretty darn delicious!  I think others liked it too!

I’m not sure who won 😦 I left early to work on my fitness (…Fergie style…), busted out 4 miles on the treadmill and 20mins (I think… short term memory loss I guess…) on the elliptical.  It was great!

Seriously folks, I am all sugared out.  I hadn’t really consumed any refined sugar all week and this weekend I had a ton.  I literally feel a bit ill. Cooling it on the sugar as usual!

So today I was procrastinating and looking at old posts and I realized that it probably seems like I eat a lot of junk.  Haha! I promise, I actually don’t!  Well, I eat a fair amount of sweets but I like to balance it out with vegetables and other healthy eats!

For example, for breakfast today I had a green monster and an egg white omelet:

4 egg whites… the custard in the pie required four egg yolks… No point in throwing the whites away!

For dinner, bok choy, leeks and scallions stir fried in some coconut oil and Ponzu with a Boca patty!  Sooooooo Soooo Soooooo good!  I wanted more! Also had a pear!

Just so you don’t think my hot bod comes from cookies alone… I eat vegetables 🙂  A lot actually!

Just thought I would clarify that!

Ugh tomorrow is Monday… but Thursday is the start of spring break with a class trip to NYC!  WOO!  Then a whole week off!!  And I’ll be seeing the lovely fella AGAIN!  We may or may not go on a mini road trip… any spring break plans for you?  Has spring break already passed for everyone??

Have a great night!

POM Cornmeal Muffins

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Hellooo everyone!  I hope your weekend is going well.  I had a super fun time last night, went to a friend’s show then went dancing with some ladies!  Then daylight savings happened and I turned into a pumpkin…

or maybe I kept on being my fine, fierce self an hour later than usual!

In my last post, I made POM Ricotta Muffins… The fact that my POM muffins weren’t so good was bothering me all day yesterday.  So today I decided to give it another try, this time slightly different and sans ricotta.

POM Cornmeal Muffins

inspired by Joy of Baking’s Berry Cornmeal Muffins

1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped date pieces
1 egg
1 cup POM Wonderful
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine dry ingredients in one bowl, wet ingredients in another.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.  Fill lined muffin pan about half way each.  Bake 15-20 minutes.

I feel redeemed!  These were tasty!  I loved the texture, the slight fruity taste from the POM, and the nice chewy sweetness from the dates!  Definitely recommend these!

I enjoyed one with a little Barney Butter spread on it!  DELICIOUS!

Today is Pi(e) day (3.14… 3/14… get it?) and I’m baking for an event!  I’ll be back later with fun pie creations later!

I think after this weekend I’m going to be officially over sweets for a while!

Off to work on some more econ! Have a great Sunday!

POM Ricotta Muffins

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Hi everyone! Hope your weekend is starting off fantastically!  Last night I saw, Remember Me (new Robert Pattinson movie)… not what I expected…

It wasn’t terrible.  It was WAY more dramatic and sad than I thought it was going to be.  Don’t see it if you’re expecting something happy go lucky, I wanted to cry for a good while afterward.  But enough about that!

Yesterday, I got a shipment from POM!  They were kind enough to send me some bottles of POM Wonderful to try!  Now I’m not a huge fan of juice (as in I can’t remember the last time I drank some) but I was intrigued at the prospect of cooking with it.

So yesterday, I tried my first creation again in an attempt to make sure my food doesn’t go to waste.

POM Ricotta Muffins

inspired by Joy of Baking’s Cherry Ricotta Muffins
1 cup ricotta
2 eggs
1 cup POM juice (really I used 1/2 cup POM and 1/2 cup buttermilk but I this it would be better just with POM)
4 tbsp butter, melted
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all the wet ingredients in a bowls.  In another bowl combine dry ingredients.  Add dry to wet.  Pour batter into muffin pan.  Bake for about 20 minutes.

I won’t lie.  These weren’t my favorite.  I think it was the ricotta that gave it a weird texture and they weren’t particularly flavorful.  Also, I couldn’t taste the pomegranate so I suggest using a whole cup of POM juice (plus you get extra antioxidants!).

I liked the chocolate ones WAY better, but I guess chocolate makes everything taste good!  I topped them with some pomegranate sauce (combo of greek yogurt and pomegranate juice) just to kick up the flavor.  Honestly, that was the best part…

Oh well, this was only my first shot at a POM creation.  Be prepared for many pomegranate flavored things to come!

Also, sorry I’ve been MIA in the blog world lately.  I’m sort of in a bloggy slump.  I’ve still been reading, just not commenting as much.  Hopefully finishing my take home midterm for econ will make life better.

Have a great day!!

Vegan Coconut Cardamom Oatmeal Cookies

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If you recall, one of the girls in the discussion section I TA for is a vegan.  She presented today (I’m having them all do presentations so they all talk.  The point is for them to practice Spanish after all…).  So I thought I should make a vegan treat in her honor.

Vegan Coconut Cardamom Oatmeal Cookies

adapted from Chewy Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup Earthbalance (vegan non-butter) (if non-vegan, just use butter)
1/2 cup (heaping) of sugar
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened (if non-vegan use 1 egg)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp cardamom

Cream together the “butter” and sugar.  Add the applesauce and vanilla.  Then the rest of the ingredients.  Chill in the freezer while you wash dishes and pre-heat the oven.  Roll into tablespoon size balls and place on a greased baking sheet.  Leave A LOT of space between the cookies, they flatten and expand when they bake.  Bake 10-12 minutes.

These turned out REALLY flat.  I would almost venture to say they were a fail but they tasted so darn good!  Next time, I would say freeze the dough and bake to see if that helps.  Or maybe add more baking powder?  Any other suggestions?

You’re not going to believe these but I forgot to give them to my class!  Oh well, I gave them to my next class (not one where I TA, just where I am student).  I think I had mixed reviews… I guess a lot of people don’t really eat cardamom that often?

Oh well!  I liked them! I am a little sweeted out for a while though… then again Pi day is in less than a week 🙂

In other news…

Holey moley today has been the busiest day ever!  I’m applying for an internship, have a ton of reading to do, supposedly a quiz tomorrow and have a presentation on Wednesday!  Tons to do!  For lunch today I had the MOST AMAZING SALAD EVER!  I’m planning on having it again tomorrow so I’ll share the recipe tomorrow 🙂

Until then, have a great night!

African Recipe Semi-Fail but Still Delicious

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Yesterday my schedule got all turned around!  I intended to go to class then work for an hour, go to an another class and stay on campus to study til 4 then come home a cook.  However, the second class that is usually at 12:20 got moved to 3:00 and went almost til 5:00!  I still managed to get a lot done in between but I was not prepared to stay on campus til past 5!

Anyway, when we last spoke, I was soaking black eyed peas…

Here’s why:  Rhoda, my friend who pops up around here all the time, is moving to Africa!  She threw a Rhoda is going to Africa party, where we all made recipes from her future home, Burkina Faso!

So I made Savory Bean Cakes! Not the healthiest but these could definitely be made healthier while still tasting delicious!

Burkinese Savory Bean Cakes

adapted from Savoury Beancakes

200g dried black eyed peas (I actually ended up using about 220g… not a big deal)
1 carrot, chopped
1/3 onion, chopped
salt to taste
1 egg, beaten
oil for frying

Cook and peel the black eyed peas.  Allow to cool.


Put all ingredients in the food processor and process until smooth.

At this point, I would allow your dough to cool.  I think this is where mine went wrong.  Form them into ball and flatten, essentially into patties.

Fry for about 10 minutes.

I guess I should also say that I’ve never fried anything before, so I don’t really know how to.  I think of myself as a pretty able cook for the most part but when it comes to frying… oh jeez!

Some were burn (oil too hot).  Some broke apart (should have let the dough cool… I think).

But they tasted great!  Beany and delicious!

Even though they weren’t fabulous looking, I took them to Rhoda’s for our Rhoda is going to Africa celebration.

There was a ton of tasty Burkinese food! Check out the spread:

Rhoda made this DELICIOUS Stew!

Served with cous cous

This stuff was dense!  I was full the entire night! (My two helping of dessert probably had something to do with that too!)

She also made a millet porridge for us to try!  I thought it was tasty!  Rhoda was apprehensive but she’s going to be eating it a lot in the next couple years apparently!

Julie made the same recipe as me!  Coincidence!  Guess there aren’t too many recipes from Burkina Faso out there.  She made hers with black beans.  They were delicious!  Amazing how two different beans can taste so different!

Liz made a tasty mango chutney to complement it all!  I believe she used this recipe.

My plate (definitely had seconds…)

Dessert were Sara’s brownies with fruit and hazelnuts!  Delicious! And Anna’s apple crisp (which I’m bummed I forgot to take a picture of!)

Sooo good! It was really fun to try out these new recipes!  Even if some of them didn’t turn out as expected… Are you a fan of trying to make things you’ve never heard of or do you prefer to have a point of reference (i.e. you’ve eaten it before) when you make something?

After dinner, we headed to a party at Sara’s house.  I danced it up a bit (Beyonce came on and you better believe I was all over it), but pooped out at about 12:30am.

Today is another sunny day!  Any fun weekend plans?

Have a great day!!!!

SUNSHINE

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Today was a good day!  For a few reason:

1. I went to the gym and ran (along with a 30 minute elliptical date with Oprah’s O Magazine)!  After 2 weeks off from running to let my knees rest from excruciating pain, I ran 1 mile today!  Pain free!  I’m starting slow again to prevent any other form of injury!

2.  We had SUNSHINE!!!! It was amazing!! I hadn’t seen the sun in weeks!  (No joke!)  I walked to class with a smile on my face!  Great start to the day!

3.  Finished all my reading for this week and tomorrow I’m getting ahead and starting on next week’s!  Woo!  This work day plan is working well so far!

4. Delicious lunch! Left over eggplant parmesan under the broccoli, along with fruit and veggies.  Not photographed is a homemade granola bar!

5.  Grocery Store: Green Star Coop and Wegman’s! Bought the usual spinach, carrots, etc.  But also picked up a few new goodies to try:

Coconut oil!  I’ve heard about all the health benefits and today I broke down and bought some!  I can’t wait to try it!  I hope it helps clear up my dry skin on my face!!

Wheat Berries, Barley and more Chia seeds!

New Almond Butter that was on sale!  I can’t wait to try this brand!  I hope it’s good!  I’m pretty particular about my almond butter!

6.  Recipe for tomorrow is in the works!  Here’s a sneak peek!

Black eyed peas soakin’ over night…

Now I’m off to finish up a movie and hit the hay!  I hope tomorrow has sunshine too!!  Have a great night!!

Lastly, don’t forget to go over to Mara‘s blog and vote for my penguin olives for the Cute Food Saturday Cuteiversary contest!!

Maple Sandwich Cookies

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Time for Sunday baking!

After my faculty/student mixer where I made carrot cake cupcakes, I had a TON of maple cream cheese frosting left over.  Instead of throwing it away (or eating it straight with a spoon), I decided to incorporate it into my weekly baking.  I didn’t want to make cupcakes again since I’m low on cupcake liners.

Then inspiration came… hmm I could make maple homemade oreos… Sounds delicious right?  Since I don’t have enough cocoa powder to make chocolate cookies and digging out my cars seems like a terrible idea, I thought of another alternative: maple cookies!


Homemade Maple Cookies + Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Maple Sandwich Cookies

adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Graham Crackers and Smitten Kitchen’s Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp sea salt
7 tbsp of butter
1/3 cup maple syrup
5 tbsp milk
2 tbsp vanilla extract
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

In a food processor pulse together dry ingredients.  Add butter, maple syrup, milk and vanilla and process until it’s a smooth ball.  Wrap in saran wrap or wax paper and chill for a few hours or overnight.

Once chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees, roll out the dough and cut into circles.  No need for fancy tools.

You could pretty much do this in any shape you’d like.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned on the bottom.  Let the cookies cool completely.  If you’re in a hurry throw them in the freezer for a few minutes.

Put your maple cream cheese frosting in a plastic bag and cut off a corner.

This will make it easier to fill the cookies, no need for a knife!

Pipe a dollop of frosting on one side of the cookie

Press the other cookie onto the frosting.

Makes about 30 deliciously sweet cookies.

Enjoy!  Watch out for maple drippings!

I googled maple cookies after I made these and a lot of the recipes use maple flavoring!  That’s nonsense!  Use the real thing!

What’s your favorite type of sandwich cookie?

P.S. Don’t forget to go vote for my penguin olives over at Mara’s blog for the Cute Food Saturday, The Cuteiversary Contest!

P.P.S.  You can win some maple syrup to make this at Jessica’s VERMONSTER giveaway!!!

Just a Taste

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Happy Saturday all!

On Wednesday when I picked the fella up from the airport, he mentioned he really wanted tapas.  So tonight, we went to a wonderful tapas restaurant here in Ithaca called Just a Taste.

We started with a wine flight.  I got the light red flight and he got the Spanish flight.

His was better than mine 🙂

We ordered 5 tapas (well really 6 but one never arrived)

Tortilla Espanola

Garlicky greens with blue cheese and walnuts

Goat cheese flatbread

Potatoes with Chipotle Aioli

Grilled Mahi Mahi

Everything was amazing!  The exception was the Mahi Mahi, which I didn’t care for.  The lovely fella ended up eating all of it!  It was too fishy for my taste!

If you’re in the Ithaca area, I highly recommend this place!  It was very tasty!  The lovely fella gives it an 8.6/10.  Pretty high rating!

Now we’re off to my neighbor’s birthday party!  I see more wine in my future.  Have a great night!!

Snowy Dinner Party

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Yesterday, when I went to class, I stepped out of my apartment building and was basically knee deep in snow!

None of the sidewalks had been plowed or shoveled!  Getting to class was nuts!  But in the end I made it!  After two classes and a mixer, I headed home to start making dinner for a few friends.  I had two dishes planned.

One I saw on the Food Network while working out at the gym a few months ago.  The second from the NY Times.

First Dish: Veronica’s Vegetarian Meatloaf with Checca Sauce:

This was a hit!  It’s actually supposed to be made in a loaf pan but I made it in a 9×13 baking dish because I would have had to make multiple loaves.  It was very tasty!  I think it was a favorite here last night! As usual I made a few changes, instead of spinach I used beet green from the beets in the next recipe.  It was a great way to make use of something that usually gets thrown away!  And it tasted delicious!  I will definitely be making this again!  Maybe for Christmas this year?

Second dish: Marinated Giant White Beans and Beets

I thought this was really good!  As usual I made some changes.  I only had half a pound of lima beans since I used the other half to make Ginormous beans earlier this week so instead I added half a pound of chickpeas.  According to the lovely fella and another guest, it mixed very well with the vegetarian meat loaf.  This wasn’t hard to make but it was sort of time intensive.

All this goodness was enjoyed with Rhoda‘s homemade bread!

Sooooo good!  Soft and delicious!

Here’s my plate:

After dinner, we trudged through the snow to see an improv show, which was pretty funny.  Very entertaining.  Then the lovely fella and I watched The Hangover, which I thought was REALLY funny.  I feel like everyone in the world had seen The Hangover except me.  Have you seen it?

This morning, it’s still snowing 😦  Not sure what the plan is but either way it should be fun!

Have a beautiful day!

Also… Go over to Mara’s Blog and vote for my olive penguins to win the Cute Food Saturday contest!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

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Holey Moley!  We got a full blown snow storm!  I’m guessing we got around 2-3 ft? More than I’ve ever seen!  It’s still going strong!

So as I mentioned before, I am baking for a faculty/student mixer today.

I carefully chose a recipe I had made in the past…

Enter carrots:

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Combine went ingredients in a larger bowl (mix in one egg at a time).  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.  Mix together.  Stir in the grated carrots and walnuts.

Line your cupcake pan.  Fill about half way.  DO NOT over fill!  This is what happens:

I overfiled my first dozen and they got terribly messed up!  I ended up having to make another half batch to make up for the mess ups.  I just knew these cupcakes were jinxed!! Oh well.  Turned out fine in the end!

Bake for about 20-22 minutes depending on the strength of your oven.

For the frosting….

Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

16oz of cream cheese (I used reduced fat)
1 stick of butter, softened (I left it out over night, it’ll be fine)
1/4 cup maple syrup
4 cups of powdered sugar

With a hand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter, add the maple syrup and mix some more.  Gradually add the powdered sugar.  Chill in the fridge for about half an hour.  Spread on cooled cupcakes for carroty/mapley deliciousness!!

Off to class!  Have a wonderful day!!