Tasty Tuesdays-Let them eat Cake!

Tonight I was feeling a bit ambitious so I decided to make Raspberry - Almond Cake. Thanks to Alissa at 33 Shades of Green, I can tell you all how to make it too.

Here's what you need:



2 Tbsp chopped almonds
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1/4 Tsp cinnamon
2 cups low fat all-purpose baking mix (such as Bisquick)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/4 cup fat-free egg substitute
3 Tbsp light stick butter, melted
1/4 Tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
Raspberry sauce (optional)

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees F. Wrap bottom of 10-inch springform pan with foil: attach springform ring. Spray foil and sides of springform pan with nonstick spray. 2. Mix almonds, brown sugar, and cinnamon in small bowl. 3. Combine baking mix and granulated sugar in large bowl. Whisk milk, yogurt, egg substitute, melted butter, and almost extract in small bowl until blended. Add milk mixture to baking-mix mixture; stir just until blended. 4. With rubber spatula, gently fold in raspberries just until blended. Pour batter into springform pan; sprinkle top evenly with nut mixture. 5. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 15 minutes.



I didn't have this "springform", in fact I still don't know what the heck a springform is.... So, this is what happened when I took the cake out of the tin I cooked it in.....


I'm really disappointed with how it looks now but it's still very tasty so I guess that's what really matters. : )

Tasty Tuesdays-Apples!

Thanks to Alissa at 33 Shades of Green for continuing to do this blogging meme. I always enjoy participating in it every week. It gives me a great excuse to try new recipes that I've never made before.

Last night I decided to have a little fun with apples. I have a bunch that were pretty small I thought it would be neat to try a recipe that I've been hanging on to for awhile that involves baking red apples.

APPLES TO THE THIRD POWER

Ingredients:

4 large apples (I used 5 smallish ones)
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup apple butter (I couldn't find this so I used regular butter and they turned out great)
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup apple cider (I decided to be adventurous and used sparkling apple cider)


Here's what you do:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Core the apples. Stir together sugar and cardamom, and put in 1 teaspoon in the cavity of each apple. Fill to the top with apple butter. Top each with a slice of butter and the remaining cardamom sugar.

Arrange the apples in a pie tin (or cookie sheet), and pour the cider all around them.
Bake 50 minutes, until soft. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the apples to serving plates. Transfer the pan juices to a saucepan and boil until reduced slightly, for about 2 minutes. Pour juice around the apples. (I didn't do this last step because the juice was already fairly thick and syrupy when it came out of the oven)

I was thrilled with the final results! We threw some vanilla ice cream on top of them and this really brought out all the yummy flavors. There's really nothing better than hot apples with cold ice cream! This is a super easy recipe so I definitely encourage you to try it out for yourself.

Crock Pot Fun

Thanks to Alissa over at 33 Shades of Green for another fun round of Tasty Tuesday!

This week's Tasty Tuesday is about crock pots. Yes, I finally dived into the wonderful easy world of crock pot action. I've heard from other friends just how simple they are to use but never got around to cooking with one. Well, today I finally did! One of my roommate actually owns me that had never been used so we decided to break it in.

We had gone out last night for Ethiopian food and had plenty of fish leftovers so we thought it was smart to throw that in the crock pot and make some kind of a vegetable and fish stew.

Here's what we used:

1 fish head! : ) It adds flavor evidently!
numerous pieces of fish
4 whole carrots
2 large potatoes
4 celery stalks
1 whole onion
About 2 cups of vegetable broth
About 2 cups of water
Basil leaves
Thyme
Salt & Pepper
A variety of herbs and spices my roommate threw in...

Chop all the veggies into small bite size pieces and simply throw them into the crock pot, add the water and vegetable broth, then the meat and then sprinkle in your desired amounts of spices and extra flavors.

I know, I know, the fish head in there looks totally gross but I really did think it added a nice flavor! : )

Then turn the crock pot on and try very hard to walk away and leave it alone for up at 6 hours! Here we are staring at it waiting for something to happen.


For not using any kind of a recipe at all, I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised that our stew turned out very well. The only recommendation that I would have made is to add a stronger flavor into it. It tasted a little simple. Perhaps more salt and pepper in the end.... Not sure. Got any suggestions? Have you ever used a crock pot? What kinds of things have you made? Anything like what we did?

Tasty Tuesday

It's time for another fun Tasty Tuesday, originally created by Alicia at but now the new host is Alissa over at 33 Shades of Green.

For this week's cuisine, I decided to make Creamy Cauliflower Mac. I found the recipe in my latest Runners Magazine and thought it sounded good and pretty healthy too. It's another genius concoction from renown food writer, Mark Bittman. "Instead of using high-fat butter and cream, Bittman makes his healthier mac and cheese with pureed cauliflower, chicken stock, and a moderate amount of cheese."

Here's the recipe:

2 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2 bay leaves
1 large cauliflower, cored and cut into pieces
8 ounces whole-wheat elbow macaroni
1/2 cup grated cheese (such as sharp cheddar, Gruyere, or Emmental, or a combination)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup whole-grain bread crumbs
salt and pepper


Heat oven to 400F. Boil a pot of salted water. In a saucepan, warm stock and bay leaves on medium-low heat for five minutes; turn off heat. Cook cauliflower in boiling water for 25 minutes. Put cauliflower in food processor or blender. Cook pasta in boiling water for five minutes. Drain and rinse to cool; put pasta in a greased, nine-inch square baking dish. Process cauliflower with stock (discard bay leaves), cheese, oil, mustard, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, working in batches. Pour sauce over pasta, toss, and spread evenly in dish. Top with Parmesan and bread crumbs. Bake 20 minutes. Serves four.

Calories Per Serving: 420 Carbs: 57G Protein: 20G Fat: 15G

Here it is!


While it turned out pretty good, I still will always prefer the traditional mac and cheese. This just wasn't exactly creamy enough for me... Wonder what I could have added to get that consistency? I also think that I might have had too much noodles and not enough of the cauliflower cheese sauce.

Tasty Soup Tuesday

Last Friday night, my roommate Swati and I were feeling adventurous in the kitchen so we decided to make dinner together and by make, I mean that we didn't quickly throw something into the microwave. No, we actually used the stove AND the oven AND the blender even too! Haha! Swati had the genius idea of using her frozen spinach to make renown food journalist's Mark Bittman's super easy Creamy Spinach Soup. When I say easy, I really mean EASY!
Check out the simple recipe below:

Creamy Spinach Soup

Put 1 chopped onion, 2 peeled garlic cloves, 3 cups water and salt and pepper in a pot over high heat. Boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer until the onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Add 10 ounces chopped spinach and 1/2 cup parsley leaves; cook until the spinach is tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 cup Greek-style yogurt and purée. Garnish: A spoonful of Greek-style yogurt and chopped parsley.

Swati is lovin' our soup!

Two other easy similar recipes:

Squash-and-Ginger Soup
Substitute 1 tablespoon minced ginger for the garlic and 4 cups chopped butternut squash for the spinach (it will take longer to soften). Skip the parsley and substitute half-and-half or cream for the yogurt. Garnish: A spoonful of cream.

Curried Cauliflower Soup
Substitute 1 tablespoon minced ginger for the garlic, 2 cups cauliflower florets for the spinach (they will take longer to soften), 1 tablespoon curry powder for the parsley and coconut milk for the yogurt. Garnish: Chopped cilantro.

For more on these recipes go to this New York Times Page.

To go with the soup, we also made breaded Parmesan Tilapia fish, green beans and Parmesan couscous! Yummy!

You-Tube Video #2

Do you like chicken enchiladas? Wanna make them at home?

Well, yep, my roommate Gina and I made yet another Pin-Up you-tube video. This time we made Gina's delicious chicken enchiladas. They are amazing! It's a super easy recipe and totally yummy! Check out our video and you'll be making them yourself in no time!

My First You-Tube Video

This week my roommate and I decided to make a video of us in our kitchen baking my mom's famous banana bread, chocolate and pecan banana bread that is. I know, we are fancy over here! : ) Then, to make it even more exciting, we got all dressed up like Pin-Up girls for it! As I've mentioned plenty of times on my blog, my roommate, Gina, is the mastermind behind an amazing project, Pin-Ups for Vets. Needless to say, we know a lot about the pin-up attire. We hope to make many more videos in the future, of course they won't all take place in the kitchen. Got any ideas for things we could do dressed up like Pin-Ups? Nothing too scandalous, of course!

Check out our video for yourself: Two Pin-Ups Baking Banana Bread

Tasty Tuesday 1

I really had no idea what to blog about today so I am thankful to my sister for introducing me to Alicia's (A Beautiful Mess) and her "Tasty Tuesdays" post today.

I''ve never really been a big fan of recipes. Generally, I would much rather throw a bunch of stuff together in a bowl and see what happens. I love tossing in this spice or that vegetable and tasting it until I am happy with it. Of course if I'm making food for other people then I'll always follow a recipe from one of my many cook books. I want them to be happy with the meal and then if they aren't, I can always blame the recipe! Haha!

I do love that I can now successfully make my mom's delicious chocolate chip and pecan banana bread muffins without referring to the recipe. They are amazing and my roommates have gotten to eat them many times since I moved here.


This week I've really gotten back into making smoothies and I am now vowing to have one a day. Again, I'm not using recipes, I just throw a bunch of fruit and some orange juice in the blender and voila, I have a refreshing and healthy smoothie! I usually put in one banana, a handful of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, one orange and one pear. Tomorrow I'm going to try putting in slices of apples. Smoothies are certainly a great way to get your daily rush of vitamin C and all the other fruitful nutrients. Yum! I kind of want another one but I had one this morning already.

More Cooking...

If you've kept up with my blog at all, you'll know that I really enjoy cooking. I might not be the best at it but I still enjoy the process. While I may start out following a recipe, I seldom stick to it and most always find myself creating my own version of the meal. Last night was no exception to that.

I made Spanish Stuffed Red Peppers! Sounds fancy, huh? It was actually a lot easier than I expected. The recipe called for ground beef and white rice but instead I put chicken and brown rice and added several more spices to the mixture. I also added onions and way more green peppers than it called for. It was pretty good if I do say so myself! : )

Bon Appetite!

I really enjoy cooking, that is, I enjoy following recipes and trying out new dishes. I just love the processes that food goes through before it is ready to eat. I think that food that has to go through a few steps is the most fun to make.

When I lived alone in Phoenix, I would usually cook one night a week and I would make a ton so there would be leftovers all week long. I made lots of pasta, salads, casseroles, chicken, turkey, shrimp and my personal favorite desserts. I love baking! Cakes, banana bread, cookies, cupcakes are among my specialities. My chocolate chip and pecan banana bread is amazing! I guess this is something that I get from my mom. She was always baking and her chocolate chip cookies were ridiculously amazing!

There are certainly a number of great things about having roommates but one of them (and I never thought about this before) is getting to cook for others and not just for yourself. So last night in honor of Valentines Day I decided to cook a couple things for my roommates for dinner. Well, Gina prepared the main course, Tilapia fish and I made an appetizer, breaded and fried zucchini slices and a side dish, carrot and orange soup. Then of course for dessert I had to bake an almond and chocolate cake. I forgot to take a picture of the food when it was all ready so this one taken today of the leftovers will have to do. However, you should know that it really doesn't do the dishes justice at all! I will definitely be making them meals more often! Perhaps my favorite orange french toast tomorrow morning for breakfast.... ? : )

"There is no spectacle on earth more appealing than that of a beautiful woman in the act of cooking dinner for someone she loves." -Thomas Wolfe

"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all." -Harriet Van Horne

Damn, this is good"

"Damn, this is good." This is what I exclaimed after getting a whiff of the perfume to the right, it's called Nina by Nina Ricci and it's absolutely amazing! It's the perfect combination of fruits and flowers. The bottle is appropriately in the shape of a sweet red apple. Gina was wearing it the other day and I told her that I was in love with either her own scent or her perfume. She then told me about this wonderful perfume. So, thanks to Gina, I have a new scent! If you haven't already smelled Nina, I demand you go and do so now! I hope that you love it as much as I do. But not too much, I don't want us all going around smelling like this. I want to stand out a little.

Not only does Gina smell good and have great taste in perfumes, this girl can cook too! Tonight, she made yummy chicken enchiladas-her specialty! They were so good and were a great meal to end this very busy and active day. It was so sweet of her to make so many for us! Thanks Gina! Feel free to make these again whenever you feel like it.

Tonight I attended a book signing by Donald S. Passman at a small funky book store on Sunset Strip called Book Soup. Thanks to my roommate, Swati, for letting me know about it. I am familiar with Donald S. Passman because he wrote All You Need to Know About the Music Business. It's a great book full of tons of useful music business information. I've learned a lot of it in classes in college but some is new and great to learn coming from someone currently in the industry. He is one of America's top entertainment attorneys. He practices law with the Los Angeles-based firm of Gang, Tyre, Ramer, and Brown, Inc. Having specialized in the music business intensively for over thirty years, his clients include major entertainers, publishers, record companies, managers, producers, and others. He is even responsible for the record-breaking "mega" deals for both Janet Jackson and R.E.M. and he has also worked with a number of other major artists. Too bad none of them showed up to share some wisdom at the book signing.

I am glad that I went to hear him talk about his book and the music industry but sadly, I left feeling a little depressed about my job future in the music industry. I should get a job with itunes. They are the # 1 retailer right now, beating out even Walmart! He said that the music industry is in a very awkward stage right now and it will take a few years before things settle down. Everything is digital now and the need for large recording labels is getting smaller and smaller. Musicians can simply go online and put their music on sites like Myspace all by themselves. But on the bright side he did say that the music industry will never die out completely. People are always going to want their music and there will still need to be a way to get it to them. He is sure that in about five years, Cd's won't be made anymore and I totally agree with that. I cannot even remember the last physical CD I bought in a store.

I may be nervous about this business but I also know that I am a passionate person who just loves music and I am fascinated by the general music-making process that musicians go through so I know that I will be an asset in any record company. Hear that guys?! : )

The following are two questions from an interview that I found on his website:

What do you feel is the biggest issue currently facing the legal community in the music industry?

The biggest change in the music industry is going to be what's happening with the Internet and the potential for piracy. We're going to get it first, because audio products will be the first to be downloaded, as MP3 has already proven. It's a serious threat to the industry. Handled right, in the long-term, it becomes a plus, because it's a new way to distribute music. But in the short-term, we're going to have some serious security issues.

How are you advising your clients with regard to the Internet and online music distribution?

The way the world is set up, the record companies control the rights to the recordings, and therefore the only time it comes up is if you're renegotiating with a record company - none of which are willing to give up online rights - so the artists don't end up controlling them, unless they're smaller and are going to put the music out on their own label.

Most of the companies are paying 80-100% of the rate as if it were sold as a CD, and then there's a right to re-negotiate after a period of years or if it becomes a certain percentage of the marketplace, but they try to put a cap on it of 100% of the CD rate, which is probably not fair, because there's no manufacturing, no shipping and no inventory risk, etc.. But it takes time before these things sort themselves out. It's still in its earliest stages; nothing has taken form yet, where they could care less about copyright law. The answer's going to have to come technologically, because the law is going to work as a theoretical matter; but as a practical matter, it's very difficult. It has to be an encryption, where you can only read the music if you've got a key to it - There are some competing ways to do it, but nothing's taken a dominant position yet.