Monthly Archives: January 2012

Dark Chocolate Pudding

Posted on by
2

Does anyone remember when Wendy’s had a salad bar?  Well, I sure do.  And I remember having a tough time deciding what I should get to eat whenever we went there. Do I get a kids meal and a toy, and maybe if I’m lucky a tiny frosty?  Or do I get the salad bar, eat a small amount of vegetables and soup and then gorge myself on pudding?  I’m not sure which option won the most, but I do remember many a time, eating bowls and bowls of pudding…mostly chocolate.

But lets be real, pudding ranks towards the bottom of my favorite dessert list.  I mean I went through all 4 years of college, where pudding was available for lunch and dinner, and I think I maybe had it a total of 3 times ever, while there.  When ice cream and cookies are in the picture…well you know.  Which would you choose?  It’s kinda a no brainer…

HOWEVER,  this is probably due to the fact that those puddings were whipped up quick from a box…warm, with that gross film on top because everyone else chose ice cream too.  I’ve never had homemade pudding before and now I think it might be my go to dessert for John and I to enjoy on a night in.  It’s quick and simple, and of course Delicious.  And the way I make it, it’s relatively low in calories (I say that loosely). This dark chocolate pudding was my first attempt at making homemade pudding and it was so easy!  I’m looking forward to trying new varieties of this treat in the very near future because this creamy treat is a must have!

Dark Chocolate Pudding
Serves 2-4

1/2 c sugar
1/4 c cocoa powder
3 tbsp corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk (This is where making it relatively low calorie comes in, I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk which has 40 calories per cup)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine sugar, cocoa powder, corn starch, and salt in saucepan.

Turn stove on medium, and whisk in milk, then egg yolk.

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.  Refrigerate for 2 hours or until thoroughly chilled.

If you are serving this up for guests, or just want to add a little bit more of a dimension to the yumminess, you can do a little something like this:

Strawberry Topping

1/2 c frozen (or fresh) strawberries
1 tbsp strawberry jelly

Puree strawberries and jelly together until smooth.

Whipped Topping

3/4 c heavy whipping cream
3 tbsp powdered sugar

Whip cream and sugar until peaks form.

Drizzle strawberry topping over the pudding, then put dollops of whipped topping on top of that.  Drizzle with more strawberry topping, and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

So there you have it, an easy, yet impressive looking and delicious dessert!  Perfect for Valentines Day!

Share

Avocado Pesto Pasta

Posted on by
Reply

Avocados.  I feel like it’s one of those foods that you either love or you hate.  Or maybe you like it in guacamole, but not in anything else.  I, for one, am very fond of avocados.  Whenever I’m at a restaurant and see something that has avocado in it, it automatically catches my attention.  I love how they can take on and enhance any flavor.  And I love how creamy they are when blended.  I’ve been seeing a creamy avocado recipe all over Pinterest, but the recipe I saw called for cilantro.  I thought that would be pretty similar to mixing guacamole with pasta which would be really good too, but this particular night I was digging something with a more Italian taste.  So in came basil!  Which is probably my favorite herb of all time!  Speaking of herbs, I can’t wait to grow my own again this spring..buying is such a hassle..and indoor herb growing is definitely NOT my forte.

With a little garlic and Parmesan cheese, the avocado blended up so nice and creamy, and mixed great with the pasta.  The perfect, fulfilling weeknight meal!

Avocado Pesto Pasta

Pasta of choice (I used whole wheat spaghetti, but you can use whatever you prefer)
1 avocado
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4-1/2 c basil
2 tbsp fresh grated Parmesan cheese (and more for serving if desired)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to directions on box and drain.

Puree avocado, garlic, olive oil, basil, and Parmesan cheese in the food processor until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Put pasta in a pot back on the stove on medium low.  Add avocado mix, and stir until warm.  Serve with more Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Share

Chocolate Truffles

Posted on by
1

I don’t know about you, but when the weather is gross and cold, I just want to eat.  I’m wrapped up in a blanket reading, watching a movie, or surfing the internet (notice nothing that requires much moving), and somehow this makes me really hungry.  I’ve been trying to think of and make snack foods that are relatively healthy to eat on these lazy days.  Then I remembered these chocolate truffles that I used to make back in the day and decided I had to make them again!  After I made them, and remembered how delicious they were I knew I had to share them with you!  I re-found this recipe on Health Foodie.

Healthy Chocolate Truffles
Makes about 10 (so you may want to double the recipe)

1/2 c pitted prunes
1/4 c pitted dates (You can also use raisins, or just 3/4 c of prunes. Make sure your dried fruit has no added sugar)
5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp maple syrup
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in food processor until smooth.  It will probably form a large ball.

Roll into smaller balls, refrigerate and enjoy!

To make your truffles even more decadent roll in crushed nuts, coconut, shredded chocolate, etc.

These truffles have a very delectable dark chocolate taste!  You won’t be able to eat just one and that’s okay!

Share

Slow Cooker Corn & Potato Chowder

Posted on by
3

I just want to read all of the time!  And I’m so glad.  I was in a reading rut for awhile and would watch lame TV all of the time instead of read. Last night though, neither John or I turned on the TV once.  We just sat on the couch cuddled up with a blanket and each other and read off our brand new kindles. For hours!  Currently I am on the 3rd book of The Hunger Games series.

I started the series on Friday and just can’t put it down…I need to know what happens next!  I recommend these books (But then again, so does everyone else) so you should probably read them.  I’m looking forward to being done with the series though so it stops keeping me up at night…ha!  I will have to decide what to read next though.  I have a few classics that I downloaded onto my kindle and I think I will start one of them next. Any book suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

This soup is perfect for the weather we’ve been having here in Western PA and for a night snuggling up with a good book. Warm and comforting, with just a little bit of a spicy kick to it (or more if you want)!

Slow Cooker Corn & Potato Chowder

2 potatoes peeled and chopped
1/4 c diced onions
1 c corn
1/2 c chopped bell pepper (I used red and yellow)
4 oz can diced green chilles
vegetable broth to cover all ingredients
1/2-1 c skim milk (or any milk you would like, decide how much based on how thick you want your soup to be)
4 oz low fat (or fat free) cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste
A couple drops hot sauce (and more to taste later if wanted)

Add the potatoes, onions, corn, bell pepper and green chilies to the crock pot.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Pour enough vegetable broth in to cover all of the vegetables.

Cook in slow cooker on high for 4-6 hours, or low for 7-9.

Add milk, cream cheese, and a few drops (to taste) of hot sauce.  Stir until the cream cheese is melted.

Run the immersion blender through the soup until half of it is pureed.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can just ladle half of the soup into a normal blender.  Stir everything together and serve!  Add more hot sauce if desired.
What books are you reading?

Any book suggestions that I should add to my list for the future?

Share

Pureed Fruit and Oatmeal Pancake

Posted on by
Reply

I would like to be one of those people who gets up an hour before they even have to start getting ready for the day.  You know, so I can enjoy a nice breakfast and cup of coffee or tea, with a magazine.  But I love my sleep way to much for that.  Please tell me, do people actually do this though?  If so, good for you!  I am much more of a night person than a morning person.  Even when I try to go to bed early, it rarely happens.

Anyway,  so I have a stocked freezer for my breakfasts for weekday mornings, and recently it has been pretty much the same thing each week.  Which I am ok with…for now.  Sunday night I make up 3 “smoothie packs” (recently, with spinach, frozen cherry/berry blend, unsweetened almond milk, and flax seeds) for Monday, Wednesday, & Friday.  Luckily being a nanny, I am able to use a blender once I get to the families house (After I get kids up, change diapers, change clothes, feed breakfast, and clean up).  Then for Tuesday and Thursday, I have these mini baked oatmeal things that I made in a muffin tin, and packed in the freezer to last me awhile.  I just put them in the microwave for about 15 seconds and go.

Anyway, this week there was one morning where I had off (hooray!) so I decided to not have one of my normal breakfast meals and make something a little more fun, yet still semi healthy, and to serve just me.  So I experimented and made a oatmeal pancake, using pureed fruit as the only thing holding it together (minus 1 egg white).  Now this recipe is extremely versatile and I urge you to experiment and tell me what you came up with!

Pureed Fruit and Oatmeal Pancake
Serves 1

3/4 c pureed fruit (I used an apple but you can also use a banana, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries..experiment!)
1/2 c oats
1 egg white
1 tsp honey (or sweetener of choice)
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp ground or whole flax seed (optional)
2 tbsp mix in if wanted (raisins and pecans for an apple pancake, chocolate chips in the banana, strawberry, or raspberry pancake, chunks of the fruit that you already pureed…the possibilities are endless!)

Puree your fruit of choice in a food processor.

Add egg white, honey, vanilla extract, and flax seed

Add oats and mix in and process until everything is just mixed.  You want your mixture to be damp enough so everything sticks together, but not super wet.

Spread into a skillet until it is about 1/2 inch thick.  Flip when it is cooked on one side.  Make sure you cook it through.

This would be delicious plain, but to make it even more indulgent, serve with maple syrup.

So there you have it, A breakfast that is different than the norm (for me), semi-healthy, filling, and yummy as well!

Share

Chocolate Ice Cream & The Best Hot Fudge Sauce

Posted on by
1

I love ice cream!  I know that almost everyone does, but I might love it more.  Luckily, my parents are ice cream lovers as well so I grew up with a freezer that most of the time, was stocked with ice cream.  And not just in the summer my friends.  Ice cream is an anytime food!  In fact, it might taste better in the winter when you’re all bundled up in blankets.

Have you ever looked at the ingredients on an ice cream carton though?  You’d think it would be a relatively short list, but nope, there are a ton of ingredients in there and corn syrup is one of the first! gross.  Now this by no means, implies that I stopped eating ice cream.  I definitely didn’t because it’s just to good!  We did cut back though.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I got an ice cream maker for Christmas.  Now I can experiment with ice cream flavors AND I know exactly what is going into it.

We had friends over for dinner this past weekend and had a nice meal (which I obviously forgot to take pictures of), BUT for dessert we had some homemade chocolate ice cream and hot fudge sauce.  That’s right baby, chocolate and chocolate all the way.

I moderated the Simple Chocolate Ice Cream recipe from the Recipe booklet that came with my ice cream maker (I got the 2 quart Cuisinart by the way).

Chocolate Ice Cream

1 c unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 c white sugar (I used organic evaporated cane juice)
1/2 brown sugar
1 1/2 c unsweetened vanilla almond milk (the original recipe calls for whole milk if you prefer…)
3 c heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp corn starch

Mix sugar and almond milk together until sugar dissolves.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients.  Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Make in ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.  Add any mix ins about 5 minutes before ice cream is done if you want (raspberries, chocolate chips, any kind of candy bar- this recipe is very versatile)

Now, the hot fudge sauce!  This is my moms recipe (I hope it’s not a secret recipe…) and I think it is the best ever!  I always seem to lose the recipe, so I have asked her for it many times.  In the past, When I was waiting for my mom to e-mail me the recipe for the eighth time, I would search Google trying to find any recipe to compare to this one.  But I never could.  Most of the recipes I found use at least 1 stick of butter, and corn syrup.  Not this recipe.  Typically I do half ice cream, half hot fudge.  And I have been known to sneak into the kitchen to eat spoonfuls of it plain (I just ate two spoonfuls about 10 minutes ago…shhh)

The Best (in my opinion) Hot Fudge Sauce

2 squares (2 ounces) unsweetened chocolate
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 c sugar
1 c milk (I have used all kinds with this recipe-almond, soy, skim- so whatever you want to use!)
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter and chocolate over medium heat in small saucepan.

Add milk and bring to a slow boil.

Add sugar and stir until dissolved.  Bring to low boil again.  Simmer 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and add vanilla.

So there you have it!  Chocolate ice cream AND hot fudge sauce.

P.S. I am in the market for delicious tried and true ice cream recipes.  If you have any, please send me the recipe!

Share

It’s me, Shauna

Posted on by
Reply

I have totally been slacking on posting on here so I apologize.  I intended on filling you in and giving you recipes on some of the Christmas treats I was making but then I got overwhelmed and that never happened.  Oh and most of the time I forgot to take pictures…

Anyway, I can’t believe the holidays are over!  But at the same time, I feel like they never happened.  It’s a weird feeling.  But we did had a great time!  We spent Christmas with Johns family in Ohio, than hung out with my family a couple days after Christmas.  We then proceeded to spend new years eve in Philadelphia with my best friend and her husband, then back to York for new years day (pretty much the only day of the year I eat pork, and saurkraut YUM!) All in all a super wonderful trip!  And I got some pretty cool kitchen gadgets too- my favorites being an ice cream maker and hot air popcorn popper.  Expect ice cream recipes soon!

So I  didn’t take to many pictures but I will post just a few:

These are the treat boxes I made for the people I nanny for, with a few extra bags for other people as well.  As you can already see I made peanut butter cups, coffee bean bark, cracker brickle (see Matzo Brickle), and sea salt caramels.

I have tried to make caramels before and I always burnt the sugar, so I was pretty happy this time.  They were so good too!  Next time I want to coat them in dark chocolate.

So that is seriously all of the pictures I took.  None of the other chocolates, or the eggnog cupcakes, white chocolate peppermint cheesecakes, or the cranberry bars.  I really need to work on the whole camera thing.

John and I on Christmas eve.

New recipes coming soon!  I am definitely looking forward to 2012 and seeing what it has in store.  I know it will be a great year!

Share