Lemon Cake w/ Orange Marshmallow Icing

A week or two ago I saw an awesome looking cake on How Sweet It Is, which by the way is one of my all time favorite food blogs! Anyway, Jessica made a lemon cake that was topped with a marshmallow icing and some coconut. I couldn't get the idea of lemon and marshmallow out of my head, so I thought I'd take her recipe, and switch it up a bit based on what we had here at home.
We really like citrus, so I added just a tiny bit of orange zest to the frosting, and it turned out really well. I also nixed the coconut , because I didn't want there to be too many different flavors going on. Thanks, Jessica for the wonderful inspiration!!!

(Props to my sister for decorating the cake!)

Lemon Cake with Orange Marshmallow Icing

Ingredients:

Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled (ours was salted)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• zest of 3 lemons 
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons milk 

Icing

• 4 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 
• orange zest to taste (I zested a whole orange and just added a little bit at a time until the icing tasted the way I wanted it to.)

Directions:

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 inch pan. 
2. Stir together flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. 
3. Whisk together eggs and sugar until combined, then add butter and vanilla. When these are all combined, stir in the zest, juice and milk. Add the dry ingredients slowly, stirring after each addition until everything is just combined. 
4. Pour into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake tests done. 
5. Let cool completely, frost, and enjoy!

Icing

1. Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a heat-proof bowl. Place on top of a pot that has simmering water, and whisk for about 4 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. 
2. Transfer immediately to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat, starting at a slow speed and gradually increasing, until the mixture is glossy and forms stiff peaks. 
3. Add vanilla and zest, beat until combined!

I hope you all enjoy this cake as much as we have!!!

If you do try this recipe, please let me know what you think!

Daring Bakers March 2013--Hidden Veggies

Hi everyone!!!
This month's challenge was really fun!!!
Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

I  decided that I wanted to base my recipe off of a red velvet cake that I had seen with beets in it. However, when I looked at the recipe, I thought it would be a little on the chocolate-y side, so I figured that I'd just turn it into a fudge cake. I then topped the cake with a not-too-sweet italian meringue buttercream! We even sent a couple of slices over to some friends of ours, and no one guessed that there were beets in the cake!!

(lovely decoration by my sister!)

Anyway, this was a really fun challenge and a really yummy cake!!!

Chocolate Beet Cake

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup pureed beets (one large beet was enough for me....I roasted it in the oven for about 30 minutes, in a dish with about 1/3 cup of water, then I just chopped it and blended until smooth)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 tsp vinegar (I used apple cider)
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup flour (the original recipe called for 3/4c but I found the batter to be a bit thin)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and whisk all of the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. 
2. Stir together all of the wet ingredients and add the dry ingredients about 1/3 at a time, stirring after each addition. 
3. Pour into a greased 9 in cake pan and bake for 20-24 minutes, or until the cake tests done in the center. Remove and let cool completely before icing. 

Italian Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup room temperature sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring. Once it boils, stop stirring and insert a candy thermometer. 
2. While syrup is cooking, whip egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer to soft peaks. When the syrup reaches 238-240 degrees, pour into the egg whites with the mixer on medium speed.
3. Increase speed to high and beat until room temperature.
4. Add the butter 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time until it is all incorporated. I used the whole cup, but I think that 3/4 of a cup would work just as well and maybe the icing would hold up a bit better. 
5. Add vanilla, increase speed and beat until completely smooth. 
6. Refrigerate the icing while the cake is cooling. 

Again, this was such a fun challenge and I have truly enjoyed being a part of the Daring Bakers!!

Daring Bakers----Crackers and Flatbreads!

Good afternoon!!!!

 Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers! 

(source)


I've been a little absent from the blogging recently....apparently finishing up your senior year of high school requires a bit more concentration than usual. But, when I saw this challenge, I knew that I had to do it!!!! If you're wondering, I made cheese straws!!! I lightly adapted a smitten kitchen recipe and we all really loved how it turned out!!!! I didn't get a chance to take pictures....they were mostly gone before I got to a camera!Then, of course I dropped the remaining cheese straws and broke them! Anyway, we really loved this recipe, and thanks for the great challenge Sarah!

Cheese Straws
(we got about 36 cheese straws!)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup flour (plus some for dusting)
• 1 2/3 cup freshly grated Cheddar cheese
• 4 tablespoons room temp butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 teaspoons red pepper (we like spicy! feel free to use 1/2 tsp or less!)
• 1 tablespoon milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Combine flour, cheese, butter, salt and pepper in a food processor. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse grains. Add the milk and then pulse until the dough comes together. 
3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a rectangle about 1/8 in thick. Cut into strips (ours were about 1/8 in thick) and gently transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. 
4. Bake for 12 minutes or until the edges of the cheese straws begin to brown. Let cool and serve!

Again, these were delicious and we loved trying out a new cracker recipe!!!!

See you soon!

Checking In

Morning everyone! I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted! I know that a couple of weeks ago I wrote about wanting to post only when I felt like I had something to actually talk about, and really, this past week, I was focusing on relaxing and hanging out with the family (we had a four day weekend!) and not on writing. Gotta say, it did feel nice to just "check out" for a bit and have fun.

Anyway, I have a couple of things that I do want to talk about today....so here we go!

First of all, over this past week, I have discovered the easiest chocolate dessert ever. It literally takes five minutes. It is called brigadeiro de colher, and is basically chocolate with the consistency of a dulce de leche! So, so good! :D Here's the recipe for ya:

Brigadeiro de Colher

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Ingredients:

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 heaping tablespoons sweetened cocoa powder (like for chocolate milk or something)
• 1/2 tablespoon butter

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir to combine.
2. Microwave for two minutes, checking to make sure it doesn't boil over. When time is done, take the bowl out and stir the ingredients for a little while to cool them down. Repeat once.
3. Microwave for one minute. Remove bowl from microwave, stir again. The mixture should be fairly thick, and it will thicken more as it cools. Eat by itself or with vanilla wafers, fruit, etc!

If anyone tries this out, let me know what you think!!!!!

Now, I do want to talk a bit about something that I haven't brought up in a while....my workouts. I've really changed up my routine and have tried out some new workout styles. I still run and definitely still go to spin class, but I've also been incorporating more bodyrock type workouts.....more intense bodyweight circuit training. In the past couple of weeks, I have done more pushups than I thought I would ever do! :D hahaha I've definitely noticed an increase in strength, which is pretty cool. I'm still trying to find the right balance for me, personally. I noticed last week that I got a little burned out....I ended up taking Thursday off because I was just too tired to work out. So, my exercise routine is a work in progress, but it has definitely changed over the past few weeks. 

Soo, what did you do this weekend?

See ya'll later!

TV, Snacks, and Pizza

Morning everyone!!!! Happy Friday! :D

Not a whole lot has gone on since I last posted.....I did take the online SAT prep test and did ok, so I'm feeling a bit better about tomorrow. Other than that, I've been trying to enjoy my break from school....I can't believe that next year is my last year of high school!!! It will actually be a pretty great year, I think, especially because I'm only taking 4 classes instead of the usual 6, because a couple of years ago I took an extra class and only need four more credits. Also, I haven't decided on all the classes that I will take, but I think that the ones I have decided on will be really interesting!

So, a few days ago I saw a recipe for a healthy apple "crisp" snack and wanted to try to recreate it. I couldn't find the recipe again, so I ended up making up my own, and it was really good!

(you can't really see the oats in the pic....I had already sort of mixed everything in!)

Quick Apple "Crisp" (makes one large or two medium sized servings..I made two)

Also, this isn't quite a true crisp...more of a snack-y take on one!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium apple, chopped (peel the apple if you prefer)
• 2-4 teaspoons sugar (granulated or brown, to taste)
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1-3 tablespoons oatmeal (depending on how "crisp-like" you want it to be)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Lightly butter two ramekins, set aside.
2. In a bowl, toss your chopped apple with the sugar and cinnamon, then divide the mixture equally between the ramekins.
3. Sprinkle the oatmeal on top of the apple mixture.
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until the apples are soft and the oatmeal has crisped up a little bit. 

This was really a good snack, especially since it was raining that day and I had one ramekin pre- and the other post-spin!!!

Also, tonight we're having a meeting here at home with some of our ministry team and I'm making Chicago-style pizza!! Whoo!! We all really like it and it has been a while since I made it, so I'm looking forward to that! Also, none of the ministry team has actually tried the pizza yet, so it will be fun!

Finally, since I am on holiday, I've been looking for some good tv to watch. 

What are some shows that you like????

Well, that's it for today....

What do you have going on this weekend?

Spring Rolls and SAT

Good morning! Hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day!

So last night, we had some leftover Chinese stir fries with fresh fried rice and....homemade spring rolls!! It was actually my very first time making them, but they turned out really well!!!! And the fact that I enjoyed eating them too was awesome...because they were fried; something that just a short while ago would have kept me from eating them! Anyway, I did get a pic, not a great one, but at least I'm remembering to take the pictures now! hahaha Here's the recipe:

Homemade Spring Rolls

Wrappers

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1 egg
• 2-4 tablespoons of water (start with 2 and add more 1 at a time if necessary...I needed 3)

Filling

Ingredients:

• About 2 cups assorted chopped or diced veggies (I used a mixture of onion, bell pepper and carrot because that's what we had)
• 2 tsp oil
• soy sauce to taste
• pepper to taste 

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, egg and 2 tablespoons of the water. The dough should not be too sticky, but should hold together when pressed, almost like a pasta dough. If it is too dry, add water one tablespoon at a time until it reaches the right consistency. 
2. Split the dough into fourths. Roll out one of the fourths into a rectangle about 10 in long and 6 wide on a surface heavily dusted with cornstarch (don't use flour because it will get worked into the dough and make it thicker and tougher). The dough should be very thin. Cut the dough into 4 strips. Set aside onto a plate dusted with cornstarch and repeat with the remaining sections of dough. You will have 16 wrappers. 
3. Make the filling by combining all of the ingredients in a small skillet and cooking over medium-low heat until softened. 
4. Spoon a couple of teaspoons of the filling into each wrapper, topping with a thin slice of cheese if desired. Fold the long edges of the wrappers in to cover the filling and roll from the short end. To seal, brush a small amount of water on the end of the wrapper and finish rolling it. 
5. Heat about 2 inches of oil in a pot or wok until the spring rolls sizzle as soon as they go in. Cook up to three at a time for about 2 minutes on each side or until they are golden. 

So there ya have it....homemade spring rolls!! I don't know how great my instructions are about the whole rolling process, so if you have any questions, just let me know! :D

Anyway, something else I've got going on is the SAT this Saturday. There's an American school here in Recife, and Saturday morning I'm going there to take the SAT again. I took it as a sophomore a couple of years ago when we were in the States, but I'm retaking it to see if I can do better than I did last time...especially on the math part. As a sophomore, there were a lot of math principles and formulas that I didn't know yet. So I'm curious as to how I'll do on the test.

Well, other than that, not too much going on around here....

Hope everyone has a nice day!

Where I've Been

Heeey everyone!!!! So I realize that I did not post at all last week....Tuesday was a holiday, so I wanted to hang out with the family, and the rest of the week I put into getting ready for tests this week! It is my last week of school!!! So I took some time off from blogging in order to get ready! What have you been up to in the past couple of weeks?


Besides school, not a whole lot has really been happening....another reason I didn't blog. I just really haven't had a whole lot of stuff to talk about....hahaha I'm so boring! :D I actually hadn't really baked anything until this morning! My sister and I did try out a new recipe yesterday (red velvet fudge! :D) and it turned out wonderfully!! I got the recipe for that off of another site but we modified it slightly so if ya'll want, I'll post the recipe!!!!  I'm going to share this morning's recipe with ya'll today....muffins! :D

Banana Lemon Muffins
makes 12

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add eggs, banana and lemon zest, stir to combine. Pour the butter/sugar/banana mixture into the flour mixture, stir gently. Pour the milk and vanilla into the mixture as well, stir until everything is combined.
3. Divide batter between 12 greased muffin tins, bake for 25-30 minutes or until muffins test done with a toothpick. 

These muffins turned out pretty banana bread-like and the lemon isn't extremely strong, so if you want a more lemony muffin, feel free to add in some more zest!!! As is, the recipe is like a banana bread muffin with a slight lemony flavor to it!!!! 

Sooo I have some fun news....I am now on Instagram..finally! :D You can find me here. We actually just got wifi, so now I'm going to attempt to do a better job at taking pics....if not always for the blog, at least on instagram! :D 

Well, I gotta get studying...

What do you have going this week?

Easiest Biscuits Ever!

Morning! How's that for a creative post title??? I bet it comes as a complete surprise that today I'm going to share a biscuit recipe with ya'll....hahahaha! 

Anyway, before I do,my here's what went on this weekend. Saturday, my parents went on a mini (read: one day) vacation. It was my mom's surprise for my dad because their anniversary is in a few days. So, a friend of ours came and hung out with us for most of Saturday and yesterday. We had a lot of fun! My sister and I made churros with this recipe and they were awesome!!! We also made a chocolate dipping sauce to go with the churros! :D So fun! 

So, this morning, I was up pretty early and decided to try something that I've never really been great at baking...biscuits. For some reason, mine always are either too flat or they don't bake in the middle. Anyway, after some online searching, I found a recipe that looked awesome....plus a lot easier than most biscuit recipes that I had seen before. There actually isn't any butter in the biscuits...just some brushed on top before baking! Sooo here it is:

Easy, Yummy Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (plus some for dusting)
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar 
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Gently fold in 1 1/4 cups of the heavy cream and add the remaining cream in by tablespoons just until the dough comes  together (I used about 3 tablespoons of the remaining 1/4 cup). Gently fold all the ingredients together, making sure not to overwork the dough. 
2. Turn out onto a floured surface and pat out the dough until it is about 3/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds of dough and set on a buttered or lined baking sheet. Gather the dough scraps and make more rounds until all of the dough has been used up (I got about 9, but I cut my biscuits a little large...the recipe originally said 10-12). Brush the tops of the biscuits with the melted butter. 
3. Bake at 425 for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are golden. Serve with butter, honey, jelly, etc! :D 

These were really great, and easy as well! 

Is there a recipe that you had trouble with when you first started baking? 

For me, biscuits are tough for some reason....I'm pretty sure that I always overwork the dough because I'm nervous about the ingredients not being incorporated enough...haha. :D Even these weren't perfect....I guess I just have to bake some more biscuits then! 

Well, I had better get going.....got school to do!

How was your weekend?

Good to be Back

Morning everyone!!!!!
How did ya'll's weekends go? Mine was pretty great! Yesterday we visited a new church and had a nice time meeting new people!
So I was a little bit absent from the blog world last week.....just been really busy with school and stuff...plus I actually didn't have any new recipes/workouts to share. Sometimes it helps me to have a little something like  that to get me going on a post and then I just sort of go off on tangents from there. :D
Anyway, I do happen to have a recipe for ya today...the world's easiest cake! It is plain though, so you can either frost it and serve as a dessert, or do what I did and leave it plain and serve with jelly, honey, butter, etc for breakfast! Anyway, I do want to warn you that the texture of this is not a traditional "cake" as it is actually a brazilian recipe and I got my basic recipe from here. Because of the condensed milk in the cake, it is almost like a flan consistency but with flour, if that makes any sense at all. Also, the batter is very thin.....I was pretty worried when I first put it in the oven, but it does bake nicely!

Condensed Milk Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup + 3 T flour
• 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs 
• 3 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350. Butter a 9x9 baking pan, set aside. 
2. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Beat very well until there are no lumps in the batter and everything has been incorporated. 
3. Pour batter (once it again, it should be runny!) into the prepared pan. Bake for 22-28 minutes or until the cake tests done with a toothpick. 
4. Remove from oven, let cool. Top with powdered sugar, frosting, more condensed milk, jelly, butter, etc! :D 

This was a seriously easy cake to make! Like I said before, the texture is a little bit different, so for that reason I don't think I'll make this all the time, but for a treat every once in a while, it is nice! I even made a lemon curd this morning to go along with it (I woke up at 5:30 today for no reason and I bake when bored). It was actually my first time having lemon curd, and I loved it!!!! I'm already thinking about the other citrus flavors I could use in the recipe! :D 

Easter is less than a week away. It is such an important time of the year. Not only is it a time to spend with friends and family, for Christians, it is also a time to remember Christ's death for us and His resurrection .  

It is a special time, and  I am definitely looking forward to having some quiet family time later on this week. Do you have any Easter plans? 

Well, that's about  it for today......

What are you up to this week? 

Easy, Yummy Onion Rings

Good morning!! Hope everyone is doing well so far this week! My dad went out of town again yesterday, so now its just me, my mom, my sister and the cats here at home!  We'll all definitely miss dad, but we do have some girly stuff planned for the rest of the week!!! For instance, yesterday my Mom and I went up with some friends to the community and spent part of the afternoon hanging out with the ladies! So much fun! Then, for dinner, we had homemade pizzas and onion rings!!! I actually just perfected my onion ring recipe, so I thought I'd share it with ya'll:

Easy, Yummy Onion Rings (serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, sliced into rings
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• dash of pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• dash seasoning salt
• any other seasoning that you like, to taste! :D
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Oil, for frying

Directions:

1. Slice your onion and place in water while you prep everything else. 
2. In a medium container with a lid, combine your flour and seasonings. In a separate bowl, combine the egg and buttermilk. 
3. Working with a few onion rings at a time, dip into buttermilk mixture, and then place in the flour. Close the container and shake it to coat the onion rings with the flour mixture. Then, dip back into buttermilk mixture and coat with flour again. 
4. Repeat this process with all of the onion rings, placing the finished ones on a plate as you are going. 
5. Heat about 1 inch of oil in a deep skillet until it is hot enough to start frying the onion rings as soon as they are placed in the skillet. Working in small batches, fry the onion rings for about 1-2 minutes each side or until golden brown. 

There ya have it!!! I really liked having the flour in a container with a lid because that way there was a whole lot less mess and it made the process go by faster as well!!! A cool thing about onion rings is that they aren't quite as greasy as french fries, for example, because the batter really soaks up excess oil very well. Also, we like our onion rings pretty well seasoned, so if you want to take anything out or even add in some different seasonings, tell me how it works out!!

So tonight is going to be a lot of fun!!!! There's a movie rental place just up the street from us and today is "cheap day", where movies cost about 2-3 reais each!!!! We're going to rent some chick flick and have a girl's night!! Any good chick flick recommendations??? We've seen a lot of movies, but it has been a while since we watched a real chick flick, so I'm excited!

Speaking of girl's night, if that's gonna happen, I need to get on the schoolwork! See ya later!!! :D

Favorite fried food????
Ummm french fries, onion rings, fried dill pickles, heck doughnuts.....basically fry anything and I'll eat it! :D

Easy, Yummy Banana Bread

Good morning!!! How did your weekend go? Mine was pretty great......Saturday it was really rainy so we all stayed at home and hung out, and yesterday we went to the beach for the day with a friend.

So today I wanted to share a recipe with ya'll that my entire family loves! Now, I know that pretty much everyone already has a good banana bread recipe, but one of my favorite things about ours is that it doesn't require a mixer, and can be done from start to finish in just about an hour. Plus, the recipe itself doesn't dirty a whole lot of dishes....just a bowl for mixing up the batter and a loaf pan.
Easy, Yummy Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons oil
• 1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 medium bananas)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar.  Whisk until everything is evenly distributed. 
2. Add the egg, milk, oil, bananas, and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir until fully combined. 
3. Pour batter into a loaf pan lined with aluminum foil and lightly greased. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes or until the bread tests done with a toothpick. 
4. Remove from oven, let cool. Store in a tightly closed container. Should last 2-3 days depending on the bananas used in the bread. Serve warm with butter. 

Easy, no? The cool thing about a recipe like this is that you can make it as is, or modify and add different elements to the bread like chocolate chips, coconut, some sort of glaze, etc. Do you like banana bread? 

Like I mentioned on Friday, this week is Carnaval. As a family, we don't celebrate it, but it is still nice to have some family time and just hang out for a few days. I still have some school to do, but besides that, there's not a whole lot going on around here. I'm going to take advantage of the fact that I'll have more free time and attempt some new recipes. My sister and I have been thinking about a couple different options that we want to do together while she is home. 

Well, that's about it for today...off to download this week's classes!

What are you up to this week? 

Chocolate is Good

Super creative post title, huh? Oh well.....I've  never really been good at that.....

Anyway, I've had a pretty nice week so far, not a whole lot going on, but nice nonetheless. Yesterday was Valentine's day, so I made a really yummy chocolate dessert for the family....my first attempt at a chocolate souffle! It made four servings, so there weren't any leftovers, which was nice as well. I used this recipe, with just a couple of changes, so I'll post what I did here!
Individual Chocolate Souffle Cakes

(definitely not my picture)

Ingredients:

• 9 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 5 teaspoons flour
• 2 1/2 tablespoons cocoa (ours is really rich, so I got away with using a little less than the recipe)
• 4 tablespoons milk (I didn't use skim.....we don't have it, and it really isn't my favorite to bake with)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 egg whites, room temperature 

Directions:

1. Grease four (6 ounce) ramekins and sprinkle each with 3/4 teaspoon of sugar, making sure to coat the sides of the ramekins well. 
2. In a small saucepan, combine the flour, 4 tablespoons of the sugar, cocoa and milk. Heat over medium for about 3 and a half minutes, or until smooth and thickened. Spoon into a medium sized bowl and let cool for about 6 minutes. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon. 
3. In a medium sized bowl, beat the egg whites at high speed until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar 1 teaspoon at a time (so about 12 teaspoons), beating until stiff peaks form. Fold in about 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the chocolate, gently fold in the rest of the whites until combined. Spoon chocolate/egg white mixture into the ramekins, tapping each to even out the souffle batter. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until puffy and set. Do NOT open the oven door too much during baking, as the changes in temperature will cause the souffles to sink when they are removed from the oven. If you want, sprinkle some powdered sugar on each souffle. 

So there ya have it....a relatively easy chocolate souffle! This was soooo tasty, and I loved how the dessert was rich and chocolate-y, without feeling heavy or "too much". Not that I typically feel that chocolate is ever too much, but I really enjoyed the lightness of the souffle. Hard to believe that with such simple ingredients, you get a really nice dessert! Have you ever made a souffle? Was it sweet or savory If not, have you ever had a souffle and what is your favorite? 

So yesterday I pretty much stayed at home all day, which was nice. At one point it was just me and the cats in the apartment, so I had some "quiet time". I got a lot done and had some time to think. I also worked out at home because I just didn't really feel like going to the gym. My hip was actually hurting a bit, so I just did a yoga dvd. I was really proud of myself for being able to take an easy day plus eat a dessert without feeling too bad about it. Not gonna say that I felt completely okay, but I didn't feel terrible or guilty either. I really believe that I'm getting better at listening to my body, and yesterday my body wanted rest and chocolate! :D

What did you do for Valentine's Day?

Well, that's about it for now...see ya'll later!

Fun with the Stability Ball

Good morning everyone! Hope you all had awesome weekends!!! Mine was pretty laid back....I actually don't think that I really got out of the house much at all! I did have some fun kitchen adventures though...more on that later on this week!

Last week, I was looking to switch up my workout routine a little bit and decided to use the stability balls at the gym. I've never really done much with them, so I looked up some good exercises and incorporated them into my routine! This circuit is kind of ab-heavy and I was definitely sore the next day.

I love finding new exercises and really enjoyed this workout! I'd have to say that the stability ball russian twists were probably the hardest for me....I had to really work at not falling off of the exercise ball! haha
Do you like to use different equipment at the gym? What has been a tough exercise that you've learned recently?

This weekend was a good one for me. I really worked on letting go of some of my eating disordered behaviors and just had a great time with the family. First of all, we made chicago style pizza on saturday (with literally a POUND of cheese between the two pizzas we made) and I ate some without feeling icky about it. For a really long time, cheese has been a "fear food" of  mine so it felt really great to have some. Another thing that I hadn't had in a while was ice cream, so when we were talking about dessert, I suggested going out and getting some. I got a chocolate cone, which I know doesn't exactly sound like a LOT, but for me, it was great. I'm not gonna say that any of that was easy to do, because it honestly wasn't. Especially since the next day I woke up feeling a little sluggish and bloated, the eating disordered side of me went into panic mode immediately. But I worked through it and am super proud of myself for this past weekend!

Well, that's about it for today.....I'll be back soon with a recipe (or two) for ya!

What did you do this weekend? 

Summer Muffins

Morning everyone!! Can you believe that it is already Friday? I definitely can't....this week has flown by so fast!

First of all, I just wanted to thank ya'll for the awesome comments on my college post from a couple of days ago. I really need to start actively looking at schools pretty soon and am a little nervous about doing so from another continent!

Well, now I have that muffin recipe that I promised for you! I've made a similar flavored muffin here but the ingredients in these are slightly different and I actually think that I like them better. Also, the glaze, while not very healthy, absolutely makes these muffins! So good!

Lemon Coconut Muffins (again!)
makes 6 (can be doubled easily)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup coconut
• 1/4 cup oatmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons butter
• 7 tablespoons sugar ( more or less....if you want them more tangy, use 5-6, or if you want them sweeter, use 8)
• 1/2 egg, beaten
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup milk
• Coarse sugar for sprinkling on top of muffins

Glaze ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons water
• zest of 1 lemon

Directions:

1. For muffins, combine flour, coconut, oatmeal and baking powder in a medium sized bowl. 
2. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, add egg and zest. Combine butter mixture and flour mixture, pour in milk. Stir just until everything is mixed together. 
3. Fill 6 greased muffin tins. Sprinkle some coarse sugar or even some more coconut on top of each muffin. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Note: This batter is pretty thick and not sticky at all, so it should be easily spooned into the muffin tins. 
4. While muffins are baking, combine all of the glaze ingredients in a saucepan. Heat over medium until sugar has dissolved and glaze has boiled for a couple of minutes. Drizzle over finished muffins. 

These were seriously yummy muffins! I loved how the texture of the oatmeal and the texture of the coconut went really well together, so it wasn't too obvious that the oats were actually in the batter. So good and tasted like summertime! 

So besides baking muffins, my week has just been pretty filled with school-related stuff. I've got a couple of tests this week plus an essay, I think, so I've been pretty busy. I also have about a million (I never exaggerate...at all) random projects that I've started over the past couple of months and have yet to finish (I'm also not at all ADD). So, I'm planning on actually completing some of them....eventually. Are you bad about starting stuff and not finishing it, or do you typically complete all of your projects? 

Well, that's about it for today....gotta go study! haha

What have you got going this weekend?

Sometimes Ugly Food is the Best Food.

Good morning! How is everyone doing? Our weekend has been pretty rainy and ugly outside, but we had some good family time and visited a different church yesterday. What did you do this weekend? 


For school, this semester I am taking a course called Life Management Skills. Basically, it is supposed to teach high school students how to prepare themselves for college life and living a little more independently of their parents. This semester, we are covering cooking and preparing meals that are quick and easy to make. The funny thing is, I've been cooking for a while now, so some of the recipes in our class cookbook (which happens to have been designed for kids just learning to cook) are either things that I already knew how to make or just very simple. Either way, over this quarter, I will be making at least one thing from each section. Each week will tackle a different section of the cookbook: breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and dessert. Last week, we did breakfast. I read the recipes out to my family and asked them to choose one. The recipe that seemed most interesting was a hashbrown and scrambled egg pizza. Since we don't exactly get frozen hashbrowns here, I made some from scratch and modified the whole recipe a little bit to fit with what we have available here.

Breakfast Pizza
4 servings

(seriously crappy picture....eggs are not photogenic)

Ingredients:

• 1 frozen pizza crust (a small sized crust is what we used...we just cut it into quarters and served it....no leftovers!)
• 1 medium sized potato, cubed
• Onion and green bell pepper (optional....can use as much or as little as you want)
• 1/2-2/3 cup cheese, shredded
• 4 eggs
• 1/4-1/3 cup milk
• 2 T butter, divided
• salt and pepper to taste
• bacon (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare the pizza crust according to package directions. Set aside.
2. In a medium sized skillet, combine 1 T butter,  the potato, onion and bell pepper. Saute until the potatoes are tender. Season with salt and pepper. 
3. In a bowl, beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper. In a large skillet, melt the other tablespoon of butter, cook the eggs until they are cooked through but still a little glossy. 
4. If using bacon, fry up however much you want, crumble, and add to the potatoes. 
5. Sprinkle half of the cheese on the crust. Pour the eggs, potatoes, and bacon on the cheese. Top with the remaining shredded cheese and bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until all the cheese is melted and the crust is cooked to your preference. 

This was actually pretty good!!! We had toast with homemade jelly (strawberry!) and fruit salad on the side. The bacon was definitely a good addition to the pizza, and we all liked how the dish took typical breakfast foods and served them in a non-traditional way. Personally, I think that it would be pretty awesome with some pepper jack cheese on it, but we don't have any here.....oh well.... :P

Oh and by the way, the above plate was my dad's. He arranged it and offered to let me take a picture of it for the blog!  Do you have any favorite non-traditional breakfast recipes?

That's about it for today....see ya'll later!

Olive Garden Breadsticks and Fun Friday

Hey! SO glad today is Friday! :D My week went pretty well, especially for the first week back at school, but I'm definitely glad that it is almost the weekend. How was your week? 


So, I have a couple of things to share with ya'll today.....first up: a copycat recipe for Olive Garden Breadsticks!!! I originally saw the idea on Pinterest, but tweaked the recipe a little bit based on what we had here at home! They turned out really well, especially since we don't have an Olive Garden here! Personally, I think that these breadsticks would be awesome with some herbs in the dough, which would make them slightly different from the original version. Anyway, here ya go:

Olive Garden Breadsticks (based on this recipe)

(definitely not my picture..hahaha :D)

Ingredients:

• 4 1/4 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 package active dry or instant yeast (I used instant because that's what we have here)

Garlic Topping (brush half on about 7 minutes into baking, and the other half after the breadsticks are done)

• 1/4 cup butter, melted (I used some garlic butter that we already had, but regular is fine, too!)
• 1/4 cup oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed (or more or less, it really depends on personal preference)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Instructions:

1. If using active dry yeast: Dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and let sit for 10 minutes. The mixture should look frothy. 
2. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Add either the proofed yeast mixture (for active dry yeast) or just the yeast, water and sugar (for instant yeast) to the flour. Add the melted butter. Mix with a wooden spoon just until fully combined. 
3. Knead dough just until smooth. Overworking the dough will cause the breadsticks not to turn out well, so be careful!
4. Grease a cookie sheet. Separate the dough into 10-12 pieces. Roll into breadsticks. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour. 
5. Bake breadsticks at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. About halfway through baking, take the breadsticks out and brush with half of the garlic/butter/oil mixture. Place them back in the oven and bake until done to your preference. As soon as you take out the finished breadsticks, top with the rest of the garlic/oil/butter mixture.  Enjoy! :D

These were really delicious!!! And very close to the real deal! 

So I'm really excited about today! For the very first time, an American Christian singer, Michael W. Smith, is coming here to Recife!!!!!! My whole family, plus some of our friends, is going!!!! When we first heard that he was coming here, we all thought that it would be fun to go, but never actually considered going. Then, a few days later, some friends of ours mentioned it, and we all decided to go as a group! Fun stuff, huh? :D

What are you doing this weekend? Other than the concert, I don't think that we have a whole lot going on!

Holidays are Almost Over

Hey everyone!! :D How are ya'll this week? What's been going on? Not much here.....we did go out and get a couple of things for my room, and some friends came over on Monday, but that's about it.

So last night, I made dinner!!! :D We had breakfast for dinner with omelets and breakfast potatoes. Yum! :D Here's how I made the potatoes:
5 cups diced potatoes
Chopped onion and bell pepper
2-3 tablespoons oil
Salt, pepper and oregano

I combined everything in a skillet, covered it, and cooked on medium low for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. They were pretty tasty!

What's your favorite thing to have for breakfast for dinner? We usually like omelets or pancakes!

So I start back school on Monday. I really can't believe how fast the holidays have flown by! The worst part is, my sister doesn't go back to school until February...which makes it even tougher for me to concentrate, knowing that we could be hanging out or something! hahaha When do ya'll go back to school/work? 


Another thing that I wanted to talk about, that I haven't for a while, is my weight. At my very lowest, I weighed about 96 pounds, and the most I've ever weighed (before the eating disorder) was 128. I've never been fat, but due to the way I hold weight, I didn't feel comfortable at 128. I'm really only 5'3 and have a small frame anyway. Over the past year and a half or so, I've been trying to gain weight and hit around 115. I'm definitely in better shape right now that I was at either my highest or lowest weights. I'm really learning not to worry as much about the number on the scale but to go by how I feel. Right now, I hover anywhere from about 111 to 113, which is pretty close to my goal weight. I wouldn't say that I'm completely recovered from my ED......there are definitely still days when it is hard and I really have to fight, but all in all, I'm in a much healthier place right now than I was a year ago. My family and friends have been awesome and I thank God for putting all of them in my path! :D I want to thank ya'll as well for reading this ol' blog and for being so supportive!

That's about it for today....see ya'll later!

It's 2012!

Good morning, everyone!! Who else thinks that 2011 flew by? We didn't do too much this weekend....mostly just hung out! Last night we had black eyed peas, baked potatoes, baked italian chicken (recipe to come soon!), rice, copycat olive garden breadsticks (so, so good....if anyone wants to see this recipe as well, let me know!) and corn for dinner with a big glass of sweet tea!!! Yum! :D Not extremely traditional, except for the black eyed peas, but delicious nonetheless! What did ya'll have for New Year's dinner? 


Well, I did promise a chocolate recipe on my last post, so here it is! I had this for my birthday last Wednesday! Basically its like a combination of a mousse with a cake. Tastes like the mousse, but bakes like a cake! :D Also, anything that has both melted chocolate and cocoa powder in it is bound to be awesome!

Chocolate Decadence (original recipe found here)

(not my picture)

Ingredients:

• 7 oz chocolate, finely chopped (we used a dark chocolate, but I think any kind would work, depending on how rich you want the cake to be) 
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 2 T flour
• 2/3 plus 1/4 cup sugar, divided 
• Dash of salt
• 1 cup milk (we used whole, and it worked just fine)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 egg whites
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Directions:

1. Place chocolate and cocoa powder in a large bowl.
2. Combine flour, 2/3 cup sugar and salt in a small heavy saucepan. Whisk in just enough of the milk to form a smooth paste. Mix in the remaining milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent burning (especially around the sides and bottom edges of the pot), until the mixture begins to bubble. Boil gently, stirring constantly, for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes (the mixture will get very thick and then you may notice that it thins ever so slightly as the starch cooks). Scrape the hot mixture immediately over the chocolate and cocoa. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. The batter will be very thick. Stir in egg yolks and vanilla.
3. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, beating on high speed until the egg whites are stiff but not dry.
4. Gently fold about one-fourth of the egg whites into the chocolate batter to lighten it. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain. Scrape the batter into the cake pan, smoothing the top.
5. Set the cake pan in a larger baking pan and place on the oven rack. Pour enough boiling water into the baking pan to come a third to halfway up the side of the cake pan. Bake at 350 until the surface of the cake is slightly crusted and springs back when gently pressed, 20 to 25 minutes. (The cake will still be quite gooey inside.)
6. Once the cake is done baking, let it cool completely before serving. Mine was still a little gooey after 2 hours, but tasted delicious. The cake is even better after being refrigerated overnight. 

This is definitely my new favorite birthday treat!!! :D Have any of ya'll tried a cake like this before?

Well, my big project for the week is re-organizing my room. Fun stuff, right? I've been spending most of the weekend some time on Pinterest looking for some fun room decor ideas. There is a lot to work with on that site.....I love it!!!! I think I'm going to try to make this  because it is just so cute!!!! First though, I really need to find a way to get my fat cat out of my closet! It's really hard to organize in there when he just jumps right in when I'm done.....and gets black and white cat fur all over everything. Downside of having a black and white cat: None of your clothes are safe from fur! Anyway, that's the big thing for the week......it'll definitely be nice to have a project to work on! What are ya'll's holiday projects? Another thing I want to do? Flip-flop redesigning! 

Well, that's about it for today.....see ya'll later!!!

Rest.

Good morning!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful, blessed Christmas. Sorry about the lack of posting.....I really wanted to spend some quality time with the family! We definitely relaxed and hung out a lot this weekend and took yesterday to remember the true meaning of Christmas. What did you do this weekend?


In a completely unrelated note, I have a recipe, and also a topic that I have recently done some research on to talk about! First up, the recipe:
Super soft sugar cookies

 

(not my picture, but this is how they turned out)

based on this recipe

Ingredients:

Cookies:

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 - 3 1/2 cups flour (I started out with 3 cups, but ended up needing to add some to the dough)

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting:

5 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

8 tablespoons milk

Food coloring (I used green)

Directions:

1. Beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy.
2. Combine all dry ingredients in another bowl and slowly add to the butter mixture until everything is well mixed. 
3. Chill dough for at least an hour. 
4. Separate dough into about 24 pieces, flatten each one into a thick circle. Place about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. 
5. Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes. The cookies should be a very light golden color. If you overbake, they won't be as soft. 
6. To frost, mix all of the frosting ingredients together and spread on cooled cookies. I also topped mine with some red colored sugar to make them even more Christmas-y!

These were seriously really delicious!!!! :D Sugar cookies are probably my third favorite cookie....the first being oatmeal raisin, and the second, chocolate chip. What is your favorite kind of cookie????

Now, just really quickly, I want to talk about something that I've noticed in myself for the last little while. 

I have this huuuuge craving for salt. I mean, I know I exercise regularly, which is one cause for salt cravings, but what I've been experiencing has been more than that. I'm still slightly underweight, so I did some research to see whether or not that has anything to do with massive salt cravings. What I found out, according to here and here, is that due to the fact that I have dealt with an eating disorder, my body's chemistry is pretty out of whack. A zinc deficiency can lead to a loss of appetite, and anorexia, or malnutrition can lead to a zinc deficiency, creating a cycle. In turn, this same zinc deficiency can cause all of the body's electrolytes to be out of balance, including sodium, causing massive salt cravings. Interesting, no? Anyway, I'm going to try adding more zinc-rich foods to my diet to see if that's the root problem or not. 

Well, that's about it for today....hope you all have awesome weeks! 

Stuff Happens

Hey! First of all, thanks so much for your kind words about dealing with negative comments on my last post!  Sorry its been so long since then......things have been a little crazy. This past weekend was really fun....we mostly just hung out here at home, which I think we all needed. My dad hadn't had a "day off" since his birthday a couple of weeks ago. I know I'm a little late, but what did you do this past weekend? 


This week should be my last of school, if I manage to get all of my tests done....I've ended up taking a little bit of time off so far this week because things came up that I didn't want to miss out on because of school. It will all get done fairly soon, though.

Yesterday, I attempted to make chocolate crinkle cookies to be a part of my Christmas cookie present. Look how cute they are when they turn out:

What I didn't realize was that the dough has to be chilled and stay chilled. It is the middle of summer here, and we're 8 degrees south of the equator. As soon as that dough came out of the freezer, it started to melt.I put them in the oven anyway, and ended up with delicious, chocolate-y, ugly puddles of goo. Appetizing, no? So, guess what I'm not making this Christmas season.  Oh well, I have something to look forward to when rainy season starts in June. :P 

I just got back from an awesome spin class! I haven't been in a few weeks, and it is amazing how much the class kicked my butt after taking some time off! Speaking of workouts, I have yet another circuit to share!!!

Instead of my usual cardio/strength/cardio/strength/cardio set up, I decided to do two longer cardio portions and cut out the third. It's pretty awesome how just tacking on an extra five minutes to the first two cardio sections made the workout seem more intense! Here ya go:

Cardio 1= HIIT sprints:

Run as fast as possible for 1 minute.

Recover for 1 minute. 

Repeat 10 times.

Weights 1= Arms:

Bicep Curls (15)

Bent over fly (12)

Tricep Kickbacks (15 each side)

Shoulder Press with Twist (12) 

Tricep Pullbacks(12)

Scaption and Shrug (12)

Repeat 2X

Cardio 2= Hills

Minute        Incline        

0-3                1         Walk at a comfortable pace

3-5                1         Jog-not as fast as you can go, RPE of 5 or 6

5-9                1         Tabata Intervals (10 seconds recover, 20 seconds all out sprint)

9-11              3         Jog

11-12            5         Jog, slowing down as needed

12-13            7         Slow jog

13-14            9         Walk

14-15           11        Walk

15-16            1          Walk to recover

16-20            1          Tabata

Weights 2=Legs:

Plie Squat w/ upwards row (15)

Curtsy Lunge w/ lift (15 each leg)

Weighted Squat (15)

Jump Lunges (15 each side)

Calf Raises (25)

Double Crunch (12)

Repeat 2X

There you have it, a full body workout that takes anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to complete. I was definitely feelin' it after this one, and really enjoyed including hills in my cardio, because I tend to avoid hill running. Having a shorter time limit helps me "push through" workouts that I normally would not do.

Well, it is time for me to get back to studying...finals here I come!
What are you up to this week?