So are you sick of banana recipes yet? I know I know... but I buy a lot of bananas each week, some weeks I get through them all... and other weeks... well I'll let the picture say it...


I just learned a fellow reader is actually allergic to bananas!?? No way! Sorry Sarah this recipe is OFF limits to you! I know these images will be tempting but just say no! I don't want to get blamed for getting you back in the ER. :)

I've tried a slew of banana bread recipes and have been pretty happy with my tinkering to make them healthy versions... yet I still feel the need to try and tinker with new recipes... and this one is my new favorite! It does have a little white flour in it (horrors) but I may give it a go with 100% whole wheat next time (I'll let you know how it goes and update a link to it from here).

I truthfully can't remember where I found my starting point recipe... but I changed a bunch anyway (butter, heavy cream...and so on) here is my version...


bOnana bread (yup I know I put an o there... read below to find out why)
recipe by stephchows

Beat the following together in a bowl
1 Tbs ground flax seeds + 3 Tbs water (do this first then add the rest of the stuff)
2 cups bOnanans
1/3 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup white sugar (I used splenda granulated)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk the following in another bowl
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
dash sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon

Then slowly add the dry mixture to the wet, alternating in the following
1/2 cup skim milk + 2 Tbs nonfat milk solids (powdered milk)


Pour into a 9x9" greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

OK Question for you... what did you think of the recipe format above? Weird? Fun? Easy to follow? Annoying and not easy to follow? This is the style I normally write in as I scribble things down and think it's super easier this way... but maybe it's just me... what do you think?


Now onto the "O"... My fellow Rochestarians may know already why I'm calling this bOnana bread... if they have ever been to the public market that is. The public market is a HUGE year round farmers market, but they also sell random household things and other things that aren't local... like bOnanans. There is this one vendor who sells bananas... but he can't seem to say the word right... so all you hear is this guys screaming out "BOOOOONANANAS, come get your bonanans here, only 30 cents a pound... BOOOONANANAS!!" Neva I know you know who I'm talking about right?? So John and I have started calling all bananas (whether we get them from him or the grocery store) bonanans.... so it's not a misspelling... it's on purpose. Hope you like this bonana bread :D

Hello my name is Stephanie... and yes, I am a carboholic. Really now, how do you say no to a nice hot, right of the oven, slice of bread??? I'd like to see you try!!

This is the recipe I mentioned last week that I saw and made all in the same day. Full day of work, hour long spinning class with Brian the beast (seriously he's insane, I LOVE the class, and if he catches you talking to your neighbor he starts yelling about how if you have enough energy to talk... you aint working hard enough... ahh Brian love it), then it was home to make this bread... it just sounded so good! I couldn't resist.


I have one of the big kitchen aids, the 5 quart "heavy duty" kind... and this recipe made it jump around a bit... it's a BEAST of a ball of dough.


I mean look at it once it was done, it's about to jump ship!!

The recipe comes from Sugarlaws and there were a few questions I had while following her recipe... my comments in red italics.

Oatmeal Wheat Bread
recipe from Sugarlaws

3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups bread flour
2 cups warm water (i'm assuming you use 1/4 cup for the proof and then the remaining 1 3/4 for the actual dough part....)
1 packet yeast (2 1/4 tsp if you are using a jar of yeast, or 1 cake fresh yeast)
1/2 cup instant oats, plus additional oatmeal for sprinkling on the loaf (I used whole oats instead of instant)
1/2 cup water (use this to make the oatmeal... I used a little more eyeballing it)
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt (I used 1.5 tsp)

Proof the yeast in 1/4 cup of water (I warmed the water to 110 degrees first) with 1 tsp of sugar. At the same time, microwave the oatmeal grains and water until oatmeal has absorbed the water, about 30 seconds to 1 minute (since I used whole rolled oats, I microwaved mine with a little more water for 3 minutes). When the yeast and water turns milky/creamy, mix it with the flour, the oatmeal, the rest of the water and salt and knead for about 10 minutes (took less time with the kitchen aid). If dough is too sticky, add a little bit of flour to make it easier to knead. Place the dough in a greased bowl and allow it to rise for 90 minutes, or until doubled in size. Punch down the dough, knead it again briefly, and place it in a greased pan for baking (she didn't mention what size pan, I used a normal size loaf pan and then a smaller loaf pan since there was too much for one loaf).

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees, and allow the dough to rise for an additional 45 minutes, or until it rises to the size you want. Sprinkle some additional oats on the top of the loaf. Bake for 25 minutes, allow to cool, and slice.


Can't you just smell the yeast proofing? Question for you. Do you LIKE or DISLIKE the smell of proofing yeast? I love it!! Which is ironic in a way since it reminds me of beer and I'm not a huge beer fan...

As you may have guessed, I try to eat healthy, whole grains, veggies, lean protein... although if you talk to John he says all I eat are carbs, a very normal conversation about dinner is him asking "Where's the protein?" Anyway I'm always trying to get John to eat more veggies so I like to stick them in where you might not expect them... like muffins. YUM! Maybe I should change this blog name to steph chows muffins :) My coworker makes a seriously mean delicious zucchini bread that I love, and I've been wanting to try to make a version without all the olive oil... then I found this recipe on Fat Free Vegan. Perfect! I couldn't wait to try it out so I ran over to the farmers market to get some fresh zucchini to use.

The results:

Delicious! Although eat these ASAP, after maybe 3 days... they get pretty dry. But as long as you don't wait that long they are great!

I did however forget one thing while making these... John HATES... wait is there a stronger word... DESPISES raisins... I love them, and wasn't thinking about his distaste for them while I was mixing these up... so he got a little surprise when I dropped some off with him at work one day.

*phone rings at my desk*
Hello Stephanie speaking
BLEHHHHHHH why do these have raisins in them?? Are you trying to kill me??
HAHAHAHA whoops! Sorry sweets!
I don't make you eat quiche, why you trying to get me to eat raisins... that's not very nice. And why are there green specks in this????
It's true I'm purposfully trying to get you to eat raisins :) That is grated zucchini. It's yum.
Maybe when you blog about these you should call them barf muffins with raisins...
Oh yeah I'm sure the readers will want to click to read about that :)


So I present to you John's barf muffins with raisins... hopefully you enjoy these more than John did :) I sure liked them!

Click over to Fat free Vegan for the recipe. Amazingly I followed it!!! Although I did add a little sprinkle of coconut on top of half my muffins... totally a good idea :)


I was inspired to make this recipe to be part of Tried and Tested over at Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen! So much fun :)

Shall I continue the muffin obsession? Yes I think I shall... And since you asked so nicely on Friday for these... Here you go!


The recipe comes via Fat Free Vegan (awesome site, go check it out!). I adapted it slightly... so the one below is my version of it. I made a batch of these for Mothers Day brunch, between John myself and his parents... they were all gone by the end of brunch... so I made up another batch later in the day :) In that batch I subbed a ripe banana for the pumpkin (since I had no pumpkin left...) and had a really good banana-y cinnamon roll muffin YUM!


Cinnamon Swirl Muffins
(adapted from Fat Free Vegan)

1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (also made a version with a medium mashed ripe banana)
1 cup soy milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup splenda granulated (or use 1/2 cup agave nectar like she does)

4 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray. (I find it best not to use paper liners--the muffins will stick to them.)

Mix together dry ingredients (flour through flax seeds) in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix wet ingredients (pumpkin through splenda). In an even smaller bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon.

Pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until thoroughly moistened. Do not beat or overmix. Spoon about 1 heaping tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle each half-full muffin with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar and fill with remaining batter. Sprinkle remaining cinnamon sugar over each muffin. Take a toothpick or thin knife, insert it into the batter and swirl gently.

Bake for 17-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes before serving.

If you make them this way here are the stats:

Grilled cheese, what's not to like... carbs, cheese, butter... yeah, not so much health food, but still tasty!

So what to do to health this one up...

• Whole wheat bread
• Shred your cheese (taste goes WAY farther this way without using as much)
• Add a condiment to kick up the flavor (my choice: mustard!! and I don't mean the crap neon yellow stuff)
• Add a heaping side of grilled veggies
• Grill it in a pan with a tiny tiny bit of butter, or a light spray of olive oil
  

So I introduce you to mr grilled cheese:


Why hello there good looking...how are you today.... ok enough small talk, lets chow!

I know I know I'm on a total muffin kick lately! I just love them though, so portable, and a great snack! This is a recipe for a more traditional blueberry muffin that I made up using lemon fat free or low fat yogurt as the base. Totally love how moist these muffins are! I added a crumble topping from the Recipe Round Robin I participated in, and I now dub these my new favorite traditional blueberry muffin! Hands down baby! It's got it all, moist tender center packed with blueberries, and a delicious crumble for some added sweetness on top!

Don't they just look delicious??


Blueberry Muffins
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup splenda granulated (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
dash salt
1/2 cup apple sauce (I use unsweetened)
2, 6 oz containers fat free or low fat lemon yogurt (so 12 oz total) I used stonyfield farms low fat lemon this time SO GOOD
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
1.5 - 2 cups blueberries, rinsed and patted dry

topping
1 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoons whole wheat flour
3/4 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/4 cup uncooked regular oats

Pulse almonds 2 or 3 times in a blender or food processor until chopped. Add brown sugar and 1 tablespoon flour; process 5 seconds. Add butter; pulse 5 or 6 times or until mixture is crumbly. Stir in oats; set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and spray 12 muffin cups with pam.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl blend apple sauce, yogurt, egg and vanilla thoroughly. Stir the wet mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be very thick.

Add the blueberries and stir gently. Divide the batter between the 12 cups (they will be very full cups) sprinkle with topping, and bake for 6 minutes at 425, reduce heat to 350 and continue cooking for 12-14 minutes, or until tester inserted into center comes out mostly clean. Cool completely on wire rack.

Nutritional Facts: via Caloriecount
Calories 119
Calories from Fat 19
Total Fat 2.1g
Saturated Fat 0.9g
Cholesterol 21mg
Sodium 57mg
Total Carbohydrates 21.2g
Dietary Fiber 1.2g
Sugars 6.2g
Protein 4.0g

...that tastes good :) No seriously it does! This isn't the sticky sweet kind, so if that's your poison of choice... you may not like this version. Oh and it's not made in a cast iron pan... so if you're from the south... please don't hurt me :) I'm just a silly northerner making low fat corn bread... so don't be hating on me :D


OK so now you are thinking... eww this is going to be nasty dry cornbread... NOPE! It's moist due to two reasons that help this thing be almost fat free... let's talk about ways to make things fat free... sub out the butter with healthier better for you things like: pureed fruit, pureed veggies, fat free yogurt... ok let's talk about that last one there. Stonyfield Farms contacted me and sent me some great coupons so I could try out and experiment with their wide range of products. They also sent a super cute spatula! Perfect for getting every last drop of yogurt out of the containers. LOVE IT!

I started out with their Greek yogurt (YUM). I've always just eaten my Greek yogurt with a little added honey and never cooked with it, so this was something new. I'm in the works of a tasty lemon poppy seed muffin using it as a base... it's not perfect yet though... so I'll have to share it with you a little down the road :)

Next I used some low fat lemon yogurt to make some AMAZING lemon blueberry muffins... but I think I've muffin overloaded you... so maybe I'll write about them later this week??

So back to that almost fat free corn bread! I used the fat free french vanilla yogurt to sub out the butter in this recipe. I also used pumpkin puree (don't worry you don't taste it... just adds the moisture and awesome texture). I also used whole wheat flour to make this thing even healthier! So why isn't this bad boy fat free? Well I used an egg... so that yolk is the tiny bit of fat in this guy. Even without the fat this thing has a really nice crumb and texture to it. I may have eaten 1/4 of the pan when I made this the other night.


Almost Fat free corn bread
adapted from from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites
wet
2 Tbs brown sugar (packed)
1 egg plus 1 egg white
3/4 cup stonyfield french vanilla fat free yogurt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (you don't taste it... just adds awesome moist texture)

dry
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup corn meal
1 Tbs baking powder

Heat oven to 350 and lightly spray an 8" stoneware baking pan with cooking spray or olive oil
Beat together wet ingredients and set aside.
Whisk together dry.
Add dry to wet and stir until just barley incorporated (don't over mix/beat).
Pour into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

CHOW!

I know this week has already been full of muffins and cinnamon rolls... but I have to tell you about some more muffins!!! Because they kick some serious butt. No really! These things are going to hop out of the pan and beat up all the annoying people in your life. :)

I had a growing pile of brown bananas (sorry Clara I know you aren't a banana fan)... and I asked John how he'd like his banana's baked... chocolate banana cake? roasted banana muffins perhaps?? His response, "what about some kind of banana oat muffin, with lots of oats?" Now my roasted banana muffins have some oats in them, but not a ton... so off I went mixing and a mashing until I had these:


How seriously tasty does that look?? Damn tasty if you ask me! And baby they are GOOD! So tender! I'm totally making more this weekend, they are a great portable snack, and as always super healthy :) The milled flax seeds really seemed to help with the puffing/binding factor (I recently learned you can use milled flax mixed with water to replace eggs! You can learn about it here)... not that these don't have an egg in them... but still! Here's the recipe!


Banana Oat Muffins
recipe by stephchows
makes 12 muffins

dry
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 Tbs milled flax seeds
1 tsp cinnamon

wet
3 very ripe bananas (about 1.5 cups)
1/4 cup splenda granulated (or 1/4 cup white sugar)
1 egg lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

to add at the end
1/2 cup skim milk

Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium bowl
Beat together wet ingredients in a large bowl.
Slowly add dry to wet, alternating in the 1/2 cup of skim milk.
Scoop into 12 muffin tins, bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

CHOW!!!!

Oh the trials and tribulations of making homemade pasta... I made some a little while back and it went totally smooth... I got cocky... and decided to make some spinach pasta...

no biggie right? Yeahhhh except when you don't chop the spinach up fine enough... and then you go to pass it through the pasta cutting part... and the spinach doesn't get cut... so it becomes a HUGE mess! HAHAHAAH John came out into the kitchen to find me cutting the pasta with this...


Pretty resourceful huh!? It worked out seriously well actually :) although the pasta was ALL types of different widths... Makes it more fun right? Oh you want to see the mess I made on the counter of all the pasta??


It's all good, I cleaned it all up in due time ;) The pasta wasn't the prettiest, but it was darn tasty! Go ahead you know you want to make a big mess like I did :)

Whole Wheat Spinach Pasta
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
2 eggs
6 oz frozen spinach, defrosted and chopped VERY fine

Mound the flour in the center of your work surface and make a well in the middle. Add the eggs and spinach. Beat the eggs and spinach and slowly start incorporating the flour. Once all incorporated knead for about 3 minutes. The dough should been elastic in texture. Keep kneading another 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and VERY elastic. Wrap it up and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Divide dough into little portions and work through a pasta machine until you reach your desired thickness (or roll it out on a table using a rolling pin) Next either use a pizza cutter to slice or pass through the pasta machine cutting part. (I'm so specific aren't I?)

Boil a large pot of water and add freshly cut pasta. Boil about 6 minutes. Serve with your favorite pasta sauce.

Can one really ever have too many pumpkin cinnamon rolls? Yes, probably... oh well, I made these again, and they are just too darn tasty and pretty not to talk about :) This time I added hazelnuts to the filling and sprinkled some on top... Totally a good idea :)

Easter is on its way in two weekends. Easter makes me think of bunnies, which make me think of carrots... and carrot cake... it's one of those cakes that seems like it's going to be healthy... I mean it has vegetables in it right?? Oh and a STICK of butter? Really a whole stick? Is that really necessary??

No no it's not.

It's Cookie Carnival time again, and yes I'm a day late... the roundup happened yesterday... booo. Seriously when did April show up?? Oh right... yesterday. Well this is my contribution, better late than never! Because seriously if you like carrot cake... you need to make these. Totally guilt free, and they taste like heaven... no exaggeration! My roomie (who is a fan of her baked goods) ate one and said this was the best yet of all my alteration creations! NO WAY?? BEST EVER?? Yes it's true! These are super moist, delicious, spiked with raisins... and the cream cheese filling... marvalous my dear!

I mean look at this bad boy?


Yup not a drop of butter or oil... and d@mn tasty! So if you can have a cookie that TASTES just as good as the bad... minus the stick of butter (800 calories, 92 grams of fat) replace it with a little carrot baby food and a little unsweetened apple sauce (I KID YOU NOT!) wouldn't you rather have the healthy one? BAM you have a tasty tasty guilt free treat.

I must admit while I was spooning the carrot baby food out of its little container, I had my doubts... I was thinking, man this smells nasty... well the birds get a treat if these suck... Guess what little birdies! You aint getting any of these! Cause I'm going to eat them all! :)

I made mine with fresh homegrown carrots from the public market here. I think it totally added to the flavor of these. Now for the recipe, print it out and go make some! You wont be sorry :)


Inside out carrot cake
adapted by stephchows, original from Gourmet | April 2004

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (3.5 oz) container of Gerber baby food, pureed carrots
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 Tbs splenda baking blend plus 2 Tbs splenda granulated (or you can use 1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup coarsely grated carrots (2 medium)
1/2 cup raisins (2 1/2 ounces)
8 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1/4 cup honey (good local stuff tastes the best!)

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter 2 baking sheets. (I used silicon baking mats)

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

Beat together carrot puree, apple sauce, sugars, egg, and vanilla in a bowl until combined. Mix in carrots, and raisins, then add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Drop 1 1/2 tablespoons batter per cookie 2 inches apart on baking sheets and bake,
switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are lightly browned and
springy to the touch, 12 to 16 minutes total.

Cool cookies on sheets on racks 1 minute, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

While cookies are baking, blend cream cheese and honey in a food processor until smooth.

Sandwich flat sides of cookies together with a generous tablespoon of cream cheese filling in between.


Chow!


Oh and check this out....
my nutritional stats for one sandwich cookie vrs making them by the original recipe...

This stuff is amazing. It's SO GOOD!! Seriously 45 min from when you start you have hot fresh bread and it makes the house smell delicious! Make it for someone special tonight and they will think you were slaving away all day :) I found it over at Food for Laughter. Go check her out, she ROCKS, tons of good chow :)


So this makes a good amount of bread, and I know what you are thinking... If you live alone or with others and just can't be trusted with a bunch of hot bread (yup that's me... can't trust me, I'll eat it all), you can easily half this recipe, just put half the beer in and drink the other half (no losers here!). I made the whole recipe, shared some with my house mate, then brought a bunch into work. Sharing is a good thing :)

OH and this is the bread for you if you are scared of making bread. All it takes is a little stirring, spread it in a pan, and toss in the oven. My sister loves making things that involve stirring, it's her favorite part! Jen do you hear me?? ALL it takes is stirring! Seriously... stirring!!! That's your favorite :D So go make some!


Whole Wheat Yeastless Focaccia
recipe by: Food for Laughter slightly adapted by me

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
2 T raw sugar ( I used 1Tbs splenda blend)
1 tsp salt (I used a little less of Kosher salt)
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp dried oregano and thyme leaves I bet red pepper flakes would be good too! (I added this in my version)
1 (12 oz) bottle dark beer (I used Yuengling Black and Tan)
1/4 cup water
2-3 T olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 tsp dried oregano (I also added thyme leaves)
1/4 tsp salt (I used large grain sea salt)

~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat an 8X8 baking pan with cooking spray. (Next time I'm going to use a bigger pan and spread it thinner, the top crust was my favorite part... I want more of it next time :) )
~ Stir together the flours, raw sugar, 1 tsp salt, baking powder, and spices.
~ Pour in the beer and the water, and stir until just combined.
~ Spread the dough into the baking pan.
~ Drizzle the olive oil across the top of the dough.
~ Sprinkle the dough with the oregano and 1/4 tsp salt.
~ Bake for 30 minutes - until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean.
~ Serve warm, sliced from the pan, and dipped in olive oil and herbs...

Be prepared to have to hide this so you don't eat the whole thing.

PS... I know I was supposed to post about humus and baba this week... but between phillips and this bread... it got bumped! Don't worry it will be here next week :D

I made these pretzels awhile back and instantly fell in love with them. The original recipe comes from Katy of Sugarlaws and this is the second time I've made them. The first time I added a little whole wheat flour (her's call for all APF), this time I upped it more and still achieved an amazing texture and flavor! Next time... I'm going to try adding even more whole wheat and less bread flour... so stay tuned and I'll let you know how it goes!!

My original post equated these to crack... that is still the case. The recipe makes 6 medium sized pretzels, which in both occasions have not lasted the night... the recipe easily double, triples, quadrupled.... but do so at risk to your waistline, because although they aren't bad for you... eating anything in large quantities really isn't the best ;) moderation people!! and I have none with these in the house... I WILL eat them all if left alone...


Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels
INGREDIENTS:
1 tsp active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
1/3 cup warm water (110 degrees)
1/2 cup bread flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp splenda blend (2 Tbs white sugar)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp canola oil

3 tbsp baking soda
1 cup hot water (as hot as your tap can get)
Sea salt or whatever other toppings you want

DIRECTIONS:
Dissolve yeast into water with a pinch of sugar, let stand 10 minutes, until the mixture is creamy colored. Mix the yeast mixture with flour, sugar, salt and canola oil, and knead until combined (a few minutes, not even 5). Let the dough rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (We keep our place kinda cold (65) so I normally turn the oven on for a minute then turn it off and stick the bread in there to rise... otherwise it would take foreeeeeeeever to rise)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. When the dough has risen, pinch off a handful and roll it out into a long strand. Set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough, about 6 times. Once all the strands are rolled out, pick up the first one and stretch it out again (the gluten will have relaxed and it should stretch further now). Twist it into a pretzel shape and place it on a baking sheet lined with silipat or cooking spray. Repeat with the rest of the strands.

Dissolve baking soda into hot water and stir until dissolved. Quickly dip each rolled pretzel into the mixture and place it back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle all the pretzels with sea salt, to your preference. Bake for about 8 minutes, until pretzels have browned. (Mine took 8 minutes then I dropped the temperature to 350 for an additional 4-5 minutes)

CHOW!

John's favorite dessert is Boston Cream Pie...
*bleh*

Sorry to all of you who like this pie, everyone who had a slice loved it, I just chose not to partake... I don't know, it's something about vanilla custardy pudding stuff, totally skeeves me out! Anyone else out there like me?? Or am I just the weirdo of the bunch?

*crickets*

Alright then! Last weekend was John's birthday (thanks everyone for all the well wishes!!). We were supposed to have a birthday dinner with some peeps, but said peeps were a bit under the weather... hence the postponing making the cake until this weekend. I'm not sure if it was me, or what the recipe was supposed to look like... (this is WHY all recipes should be required to have pictures!), but my cake came out... how do I say... WICKED THIN! I mean yes it's a lightened up cake, but that doesn't mean IT has to be skinny along with the eaters!! The recipe has you make 1 9" cake and slice it in half. I have a 8.5" spring form pan so used that... and let me tell you, I'm so happy I didn't have a 9" because it would have been even THINNER!!!

John came out to the kitchen while the cake was cooling, took one look and said, "so... where's the other layer?"
"that's it, I have to cut it in half"
"seriously?? It kinda looks like a big cookie, not a cake"
"oh thanks! what should I do?? Should I make another cake so it's thicker?"
"you could just cut this one in half across and then pile it ontop... so we'll just have half a somewhat tall cake"
"we can not show up with half a cake"
This went back and forth for awhile haha and in the end I said screw it! I'm going to try to slice it in half and make it like the recipe says!

So here it is...


My very thin, kinda sad looking cake. It really is more of a large sandwich cookie with frosting than anything else. I was told it tasted delicious though so that's at least good :) The cake was a bit dry, but the custard helped that out, and the frosting was wicked good. Ahhh chocolate how I love you!

The cake and custard recipe came from Cooking Light. The only thing I changes was I took half the cake batter and added some cocoa and then swirled that back into the white cake. John couldn't decide if he wanted a chocoalte or vanilla cake. So swirl it was! The other change was I used whole wheat pastry flour, which I know had some to do with the lack of big thick cake... but seriously it shouldn't have been THIS THIN!

As for the "frosting" It's melted milk chocolate with a little honey and milk mixed in.

Chow!

A crispy crunchy cocoon encasing a chewy delicious center.

PHEW! That was a mouthful! And man was my mouth full of cookies once these came out of the oven! You see Foodbuzz and Quaker and getting together for a little contest, come up with a recipe involving some of the flavors from the new Quaker True Delight granola bars... and possibly win a fantastic trip to Outstanding in the Field!! So here is my entry, and if you are anything like me... you are going to LOVE this recipe! It's full of good for you things, has no added butter or oil (you'd never know it), and totally satisfies a sweet tooth craving!

Chow!

Dark chocolate chunk cherry cashew cookies
recipe by stephchows
makes 2 dozen cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3.5 oz Gerber Cherries and Apples baby food (it comes in a 2 pack, you just need 1 container)
1/2 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
3 Tbs splenda baking blend or (6 Tbs granulated sugar)
1 large egg
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup plump, moist, dried sour cherries
4 oz. dark chocolate broken into chunks about the size of the cherries (try using TCHO fruity!)
1/2 cup no salt added cashew pieces

Whisk together flour, baking soda, cocoa, and salt. Set aside

In a large bowl beat baby food and sugars until well combined. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Slowly mix in dry ingredients. With last addition of flour mixture also add in cherries, chocolate and cashews.

Drop tablespoon-fulls of dough onto a silicon baking mat lined cookie sheet. Bake cookies for 15-18 minutes. Let cool a few minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

These are best the day you make them, crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle. They loose their crispness when left overnight in a plastic container, still tasty, but best right out of the oven :)

Hope you love these treats!

I'm a big advocate of treating tragedy with good for you comfort food. When something bad strikes, I'm immediately to the kitchen to cook something up to send/ drive over to the person in need. Last week when I heard the news of a friend's father passing I immediately started making a shopping list of things to prepare to bring to him and him family.

Big batch of homemade lasagna, check,
Big batch of his favorite cookies, check.

Lasagna travels well, pretty much everyone loves it, and you can freeze leftovers (if you have any). All you need to do is have the person pop the whole thing in the oven to rewarm or slice out a piece to fit in the microwave. Perfect.


Comforting Whole Wheat and Veggie Lasagna
350 degrees for 45 minutes covered plus 15 more uncovered

6 whole wheat lasagna noodles (uncooked)
1 medium zucchini sliced into long wide (lasagna noodle shapped) pieces about 1/4 inch thick
1 large jar of your own go to pasta sauce (wegmans diavola)
1 container sliced mushrooms
15 oz reduced fat ricotta
1 egg (lightly beaten)
2-3 cups part skim mozzarella divided (depends on how cheesy you want it)
fresh basil and parsley to taste (you can use dry if you don't have fresh on hand)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
(feel free to toss in any other veggies you have on hand, I like to add in bell pepper and spinach)

In a small bowl mix ricotta, egg, 1-2 cups mozzarella, black pepper, basil and parsley.

In your baking pan pour a little sauce and shake the pan around until it coats the bottom. Layer 3 lasagna noodles on top of sauce. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta mixture over noodles. Sprinkle 1/3 of the sliced mushrooms along with 1/3 of the remaining sauce to cover. Layer 3 more noodles and repeat with ricotta, mushrooms, and sauce. For the final layer cover with long wide slices of zucchini, followed by remainder of ricotta, mushrooms, and sauce. Finish by topping off with mozzarella.

Cover with tin foil and place in the oven. I normally turn the oven on now, no need to preheat with something like lasagna. Heat at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove foil for final 15 minutes to brown cheese.

I don't know about you, but I've heard from a bunch of different places about roasting bananas before using them in baked goods... I always thought this sounded good but it wasn't until this weekend I realized just how much I was missing out!! I stuck the bananas on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes... they came out black and gross looking but once you peeled back the skin the insides were a nice vibrant yellow and so super soft. They smelled AMAZING and I couldn't wait for them to cool to start adding things in. (Make sure you let them cool a little though, otherwise you'll have scrambled cooked egg in your muffins... ewwwww)

The weekend was full of all types of baking, pancakes (recipe to come later this week), pumpkin cinnamon buns, poose cookies, and then finally roasted banana muffins. I'm not sure where I exactly came up with the recipe, I basically made it up as I went and (amazingly) wrote measurements down as I went along. Add a little bit of this a little bit of that... They came out of the oven steaming, so inviting, just asking to be devoured... oh, and they were.


John even proclaimed they were the best thing I had come up with to date! Pretty impressive statement if you ask me :) So they have his stamp of approval :) We sat and happily munched on these throughout the course of the night, and John told me this morning that amazingly some of them actually survived the night! And amazing feat if you ask me :) You see the recipe only made 12... next time I will be doubling this for certain.

Roasted Banana Muffins
created by me
makes 12

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup old fashion oats (take them and pulverize in a food processor)
2 tsp baking powder
dash salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 small to medium roasted bananas (how to: below)
2 Tbs splenda blend (or just use more honey to taste and leave this out)
1.5- 2 Tbs Honey
1 egg
1/4 cup skim milk

ROAST whole bananas by placing on a cookie sheet, roast in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes (until they are black), cool until you are able to handle them without burning yourself.

WHISK flour, pulverized oats, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

PEEL bananas and place into a large bowl, stir in sugar & honey, beat in egg.

ADD dry ingredients a little at a time to wet, alternating adding in skim milk a little at a time, ending with milk.

POUR into greased muffin tins and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Try not to chow them all in one sitting... it's hard not to though :)

Katy of Sugarlaws could not have spoken words more true when she said she could not convey just how good these pretzels are. I must equate them to crack... because they are that addictive. The best part is these aren't illegal and are a FAR FAR FAR better and more accessible option then drugs haha. I printed her recipe straight away (i changed a few things which I wrote out in my version below) and promised myself I would make them soon, last night was the night and I fear I will be making these more often then I really should for my waistlines sake. I mixed her recipe up a bit by doing a combo of whole wheat and bread flour to make them a little "better" for ya. I ate 3 of the 6 last night, set one aside for my roomie and devoured the other two this morning.... yes I know I have chowing problems... you may have noticed the title of this blog... ahhh it all comes together now doesn't it ;)

Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels
INGREDIENTS:
1 tsp active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
1/3 cup warm water
3/4 cup bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp bread enhancer
1 tbsp splenda blend
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp canola oil

3 tbsp baking soda
1 cup hot water (as hot as your tap can get)
Sea salt or whatever other toppings you want

DIRECTIONS:
Dissolve yeast into water with a pinch of sugar, let stand 10 minutes, until the mixture is creamy colored. Mix the yeast mixture with flour, sugar, salt and canola oil, and knead until combined (a few minutes, not even 5). Let the dough rise in a greased bowl until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. When the dough has risen, pinch off a handful and roll it out into a long strand. Set aside. Repeat with the rest of the dough, about 6 times. Once all the strands are rolled out, pick up the first one and stretch it out again (the gluten will have relaxed and it should stretch further now). Twist it into a pretzel shape and place it on a baking sheet lined with silipat or cooking spray. Repeat with the rest of the strands.

Dissolve baking soda into hot water and stir until dissolved. Quickly dip each rolled pretzel into the mixture and place it back on the baking sheet. Sprinkle all the pretzels with sea salt, to your preference. Bake for about 8 minutes, until pretzels have browned. (Mine took 8 minutes then I dropped the temperature to 350 for an additional 4-5 minutes)

Makes six medium-sized pretzels, but please double or triple this recipe, because they disappear quickly!


You really could add any kind of topping you want, cinnamon and sugar perhaps? Maybe mix in some fresh rosemary or thyme??

I seriously want to make these everynight. They are that easy and that tasty... so worth it!

chow!!

I love waffles. Especially belgian waffles. I have a standard thin waffle maker (which has a split personality... it's rather disconcerting... it also leads a second life as a pizelle maker, AND a panini maker depending on which plate you use). Anyway, belgian waffles are where it's at, deep wonderful crevices for syrup to fill! Who wouldn't love it? Lucky for me my roomie has a belgian waffle maker and she has since brought it home from its living at her boyfriends apartment. Hooray thick waffles are back! So I brought out my crazy healthy tweaked recipe that works great in the thin waffle machine... alas in the thick thick belgian kind... no oil means they tear apart pretty easy. Example below....

I must say after I tore the pieces off they were so crisp and wonderfully tasty... however it was a pain to get it out of the waffle maker...So I gave in an added some oil to the remained of the recipe, and thoroughly greased the hot plates before pouring the batter in.


Much better luck this round at getting the waffle to release itself from its toasty home. It also gave me a little time to whip up some nice fruit topping.

whole wheat waffles
1 egg + egg white
1 3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbs Splenda
4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs oil

Mix dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Beat egg and add to milk mixture along with oil (if using a belgian waffle maker). Gradually add wet to dry and whisk together until smooth.

Pour about 1/2 cup of batter onto a hot belgian waffle maker. Remove when light goes out or timer dings. Leave in a little longer for a crisper waffle.

fruit topping (serving for one)
5 frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 tsp corn starch
1 Tbs splenda
splash of skim milk

heat strawberries and blueberries in a thick bottom pan, once they start to release juices add corn starch and splenda, if it gets to thick gradually add a little skim milk to attain desired tastiness... yes that really is a word :)

That's right I was on my last bite when I realized I hadn't taken a picture after they were cooked... wooops! Here is the last one in a nice spicy red sauce. Delicious!

So John and I love gnocchi (NYOH-kee), or if John is saying it (YON-kee)... yes it's an ongoing debate on how to say it. It seems most places in the world pronounce it like I say it... however when in a totally old school italian restaurant in Gates NY... it's the way he says it... hahaha. Since Gates is also known as "little Italy" I seem some cred to it... but being i'm part italian... I'm saying I'm right :) Anyway.... gnocchi is the only white pasta he will eat out, I know crazy huh (we eat the whole wheat kind at home though) I've tried making these before with yams but in a time crunch this recipe is the best! It's super fast and easy. Even though it's made with pumpkin you really can't taste it, it tastes like normal potato gnocchi!

Pumpkin Gnocchi
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup fresh or canned pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
14 cups water

Combine 1 3/4 cups flour, pumpkin puree, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir well to form a smooth dough (dough will be slightly sticky). Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape dough into a 12 x 3-inch-long roll. Cut roll lengthwise into 6 (1/2-inch-thick) strips, and cut each strip into 12 (1-inch) pieces. Press each piece of dough with a lightly floured fork. Place gnocchi on a lightly floured baking sheet; set aside.

Bring water to boil in a large Dutch oven. Add half of gnocchi; cook 3 minutes or until done. Remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon; place in a colander. Repeat with remaining gnocchi.

all ready to go into the water