Coconut Almond Butter

About a month ago I found a new food blogger that I totally have a blog crush on. Her blog name is Delighted Momma. I made her Flourless Zucchini Brownies. Twice. During the brownie party, stumbled upon her recipe for almond butter (with coconut!)

I have attempted nut butters before but always quit at the paste stage and figured homemade nut butters weren't possible. I read her instructions and realized I never ran my food processor long enough and maybe there was hope for me. You can see her recipe here.

I've made several batches of this stuff and will probably never buy store bought almond butter again. It's hard describe how delicious it is homemade.

Some have told me that soaking your almonds makes them even more nutritious. I used raw almonds for this last batch and unsweetened coconut shreds and it is delicious.

*Warning!! This is a loud and obnoxious process. Don't do it at midnight...or when your kids are napping. You'll regret it.

**WARNING!! This almond butter gets HOT. You'll see condensation on my food processor and it's for realsies hot.

Coconut Almond Butter from Delighted Momma

Ingredients:

•  2 Cups dry roasted almonds 
• 1/3 C unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor. I have also made this using a Ninja.
2. Turn your food processor to high and plug your ears and shut yourself in the closet while this processes for 10 minutes. If you watch, you'll noticed different stages- almond meal to almond chunks, to almond paste, and finally almond butter!
3. After 10 minutes, check your almond butter. If you like it chunky, stop processing it. If you let it run longer, you'll get smooth and creamy almond butter.
4. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the almond butter into an airtight container and store. 

Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Sweet Corn and Avocado

What's up with the ode to Zucchini here? I was graciously given dozens of zucchini and if I don't eat them, they will rot and my house will stink. The only solution is to eat them.

I pinned this recipe after one of my favorite food bloggers, Maria at Two Peas & Their Pod posted it. The pictures were gorgeous and I wanted to have her exact salad special delivered to my house.

I admit I was a little nervous to commit to making this recipe myself because I've never had raw zucchini and I didn't want to be left with the whole salad to eat by myself if I didn't like the zucchini ribbons. I made it anyway and was so happy with the results!

I've eaten it by the bowl-full ever since I made it. Dan refers to it as my "free" salad...meaning I can gorge myself on it and not feel guilty! Don't worry, the gorging has ensued :)

 The only alteration I made was using a can of sweet corn because the grocery store didn't have any ears of corn to buy. LAME. I'm sure the addition of fresh corn would make this even more delicious.

You can check out the original recipe Here on Maria's blog, and the recipe below is her original recipe.

Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Sweet Corn and Avocado

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 medium zucchini
• 2 medium yellow squash
• 2 ears cooked sweet corn
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 2 medium ripe avocados, peeled, pitted, and sliced
• 1/2 cup queso fresco (Mexican cheese)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil and lime juice together. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
2. Trim the ends of the zucchini and yellow squash. With a vegetable peeler, shave lengthwise into long, wide strips about 1/16 inch thick. When you get to the center of the zucchini, turn the squash over and slice from the other side until you get to the center again.
3. Put the zucchini and yellow squash ribbons in a large bowl. Cut the sweet corn kernels off of the cob, cutting close to the cob. Discard cobs. Add sweet corn, cilantro, red onion, and avocado slices to the squash ribbons. Pour olive oil and lime dressing over salad and toss until coated.
4. Crumble queso fresco over the top of the salad and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve and enjoy!

*I found my queso fresco by the cream cheese at my grocery store. I also used whole milk queso fresco 

Printable Version

Curried Cauliflower Zucchini Soup

Do you have Zucchini taking over your kitchen? I have a zucchini the size of a baseball bat and I'm not sure what to do with it. Another problem I have is buying produce when I know full well I have no plans to use it, I just know that it should come home with me.

I pride myself on filling my shopping cart with healthy food and sometimes I buy produce just because some voice inside me tells me my body needs it.

Whenever my produce hoarding problem gets out of control, I end up juicing it all so I don't experience produce-guilt. My green cabbage almost ALWAYS ends up in the produce-guilt juice.

I don't have a recipe for cabbage, but my cauliflower almost ended up in the juice until I remembered a recipe I have had marked for years in one of my favorite cookbooks called Volumetrics. This particular recipe was perfect- it called for zucchini AND cauliflower which means I'm in the negative for having produce guilt.

This soup is so amazing and I have eaten the entire recipe in less than 24 hours. It's thick and creamy and the hint of curry is divine.

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 Cups of cauliflower, chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, shredded (About 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 Cups chopped onions
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Cups chicken stock (or vegetable broth for a vegetarian variation)
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp minced garlic

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a 4-5 quart pot over medium heat. Add the onions, garlic, and curry powder. Cover and cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the chicken stock, cauliflower, zucchini, and salt to the pot. Bring the soup to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Cover the pot and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Puree the soup in a blender or food processor and return to the pot.

4. Enjoy!

Printable Version

Kitty Litter Surprise

No better way to make a come back than to make people want to exit out of my blog because of pure disgust.

My excuse for not blogging started with not having a camera that takes pictures anymore...then it was being too busy...then it was feeling my blog was read by me and my husband so why try? (I usually force him to read it and then give me compliments)

I bought a new camera, am making time for food and blogging, and will soon be teaming up with one of my FAVORITE foodies of all time. She will make her grand entrance soon and I can't wait to introduce her to you.

We were out picking fruit from my friend's fruit trees when she told me how much she wanted to have a food blog. She may have been on my shoulders picking pears out of the tree when we came up with the idea, but I said, "BECOME A CONTRIBUTOR ON MY DYING BLOG!!!"

We've made it official and soon will be documenting our foodie adventures. She is one of the best cooks I know. She is also by far, hands down, the healthiest person I know. Aren't you all so excited to meet her now?? Plus, she's one of my best friends on the planet and she would definitely be on the list of people I would choose to join me on a deserted island if it ever got to that point.

Get excited if you like healthy and delicious food because this blog's about to get crazy.

Now that I've got your attention, I realize it's been awhile since I've added to the "eat your feelings category." I know, you're probably thinking, "I always eat cat litter when I'm eating my feelings!"

DUH! That's why I finally put it on the food blog! Kitty Litter Surprise. I credit my long lost cousin Amy for this recipe. I haven't seen Amy in a long time, but I'll never forget when she showed up at a family party with this awesome kitty littler dessert.

Dan got REALLY excited about the idea of a kitty litter dessert and we decided to bring it to our monthly family dinner. Since I can't keep cake in the house, I put the leftovers down the garbage disposal right after taking one last giant spoonful (and by spoonful I mean shovel full of course)

You should definitely make this. Even if there is no special occasion. People will be really grossed out and it will be awesome!

Ingredients:

• White cake mix
• Chocolate cake mix
• 2 packages of vanilla pudding (4 servings/pkg size)
• 4 Cups of milk
• 1 package vanilla sandwich cookies
• 2 large Tootsie Roll sticks
• Green food coloring
• 1 cat litter box
• 1 cat litter scoop 

Directions:

1. Make the white cake according to directions. Make the chocolate cake according to directions.  Bake the cakes and then let them cool.
2. Mix the 2 packages of pudding with 4 cups of milk and beat until smooth. Allow to chill for 20 minutes.
3. Using your hands, crumble the white and chocolate cakes in the kitty litter pan. Mix until well combined. Add the chilled pudding to the crumbled cake mixture and stir until combined.
4. In the food processor, process the entire package of vanilla sandwich cookies until it looks like creamy dirt. Add several drops of green food coloring and process again until greenish-yellowsh.
5. Spread the cookie mix on top of the cake and pudding layer.
6. Cut the tootsie rolls into small sections and microwave for 5 seconds. Using your hands, manipulate the tootsie rolls into poop-like shapes.
7. Strategically place rolled tootsie rolls around in the cookie litter until it looks disgusting. Add the Scoop and dangle a few pieces of tootsie poop to make it even more unappetizing. Serve!

One of these

Some of those

A little of this

BAM! You get this lovely dessert.

Printable Version

Blueberry Blue Cheese Salad

I'd like to welcome myself back to my blog, "Welcome back Stephanie!"

Starting a new job and wrapping up with all my old students has taken a toll on me. I've finally quit working 50+ hours a week and have some time to devote to the things I love.

My most recent creation incorporates  the delicious blueberries that are in season. This salad came from my Family Circle magazine and I knew just by looking at the picture I would love it.

The salad is simple, easy to make, and has blue cheese in it so it's basically heaven on a plate.

Enjoy!


Ingredients:

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon blueberry preserves (or 1/4 C pureed blueberries)

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons snipped chives

5 ounces (10 cups) baby spinach

12 ounces (approximately 2 cups) fresh blueberries

3/4 C walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

1/2 C crumbled blue cheese




Directions:

1. In a small bowl, stir together vinegar, blueberry preserves, mustard, salt and pepper. Slowly whisk in olive oil until well combined. Mix in chives. Set aside.

2. Toss together spinach, blueberries, walnuts, and blue cheese. Mix in dressing, or serve it on the side.

Makes 6 side dish servings.
Printable Version 

DELICOUS Dinner Rolls

I've really missed keeping up on my little food blog. Life has been taking one exciting turn after another and I am ready to have some time for the things I love.

I really love food. I love creating food. I love the process of fantasizing about a recipe, shopping for just the right ingredients, and then putting it all together in the kitchen. I think my FAVORITE thing about making food is sharing it with people I love.

My husband is my favorite person to cook for, probably because I love him the most-est in the all the world. One of his favorite foods is rolls. A long time ago, (ok, like 3 months ago) I told him I'd try a new roll recipe just for him.

He went nuts. They came and went so fast that I kind of forgot to post about them. After looking through all my pictures of food that I've taken with the intention of putting the recipe on my blog, I realized I never put these up! How could I miss the rolls that disappeared so quickly??

I grabbed this recipe off that place where people look at food porn all day and it led me to This Recipe. I followed the instructions exactly and so I put the exact instructions here so you could have the exact same delicious roll, so kudos to the original source! (That's why they are in italics, because my conscience tells me to make sure everyone knows I COPIED this word for word! It's the bibliography student in me)

Rolls with a lovely Date Stamp. Score!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 cups of warm water
about 9-10 cups of all purpose flour
at least 1 cup of butter

Instructions:

1. Scald 1 1/2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for about 2 minutes. Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster. There will probably be some little cubes of butter still floating in the hot mixture, they will melt.
2.  We are going to add yeast to this hot mixture, but it will be too hot to just dump the yeast straight in (it would kill it!). To cool it down stir in 1-2 cups of flour, then add 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of salt, and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, in a measuring cup dissolve 2 Tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it is bubbly.
3. Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 9-10 cups of flour (counting the flour you have already added to cool it earlier). I would recommend only adding 2 cups at time and stirring in between. These rolls turn out so much better when they are mixed by hand.
4. At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour. Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it raise.
5. When your dough is close to raising completely, butter 2 cookie sheets and set them aside.
6. Let the dough raise until it has doubled in size.
7. Cover your working space with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Dump your dough out and divide it into 4 balls. Eyeball the sizes, then lift them up and feel the weight of each ball. Try to make them even, but they don’t have to be perfect. Using one ball of dough at a time: roll the dough into a circle on a floured counter. Once it is rolled out spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 Tablespoons per circle of dough.
8. Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter. Then cut each quarter into 3 pieces. You should end up with 12 triangles from each circle of dough. 
9. Roll the dough starting with the wide end of the triangle. Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet. You will make 3 rows, with 8 rolls per row. This will give you 24 rolls per pan. Two balls of dough will fill 1 pan. You will get a total of 48 rolls            
10. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pans of rolls in a warm place (on top of the oven if possible) to let them rise. Once they are touching and full in size, cook (one pan at a time) in the oven ’till they are golden brown. About 10 – 15 minutes, It may take longer depending on how hot your oven cooks. Keep a close eye on your first pan to get the right time for the second While they are still hot and fresh out of the oven run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a delicious buttery glaze.   

Printable Version

1950's Rich Waffles

When I say Rich Waffles around my husband, he starts drooling and then he starts asking what he can do to help me make them. Since I am dedicating the next several recipes to my sweetheart, this one is for him. These are by far his favorite waffles.

I found this recipe in my 1950's Better Crocker cookbook and although it suggests using bacon fat for an even richer taste, I usually follow the regular richer instructions which call for an extra egg and extra Crisco, just cause we like to eat healthy at our house :)


These waffles should be served at a fancy restaurant. I would serve them to the President if he came to my house for breakfast. They really are rich. I've never had a waffle that compares. Not even the special malt waffles I used to eat at the 4-star ranch I used to work at compares to these.

Don't think about it, just make them for breakfast, or for a late night snack and I promise you that you won't be disappointed.

Ingredients:

3 Eggs

1 1/2 C Buttermilk

1 tsp baking soda

1 3/4 C sifted flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C melted shortening. That's right, pull out the tub-o-Crisco. (The cookbooks says "Fresh bacon fat is good in waffles.")

Instructions:

1. Beat eggs well.

2. Beat in the remaining ingredients.

3. Pour batter into heated waffle iron. Makes 8 waffles. Now go impress your family with your waffle skills.




Printable Version