Pink Pancakes

Curious? You should be. The pink in these pancakes comes from beet purée. I found this recipe in one of my favorite cook books 'Deceptively Delicious' by Jessica Seinfeld. Every meal incorporates a veggie purée into it. I especially love this recipe because it is packed full of protein making it a great lunch or dinner option too. I'm forever thankful to one of my besties Annelie for introducing me to this cook book.

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup beet purée

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup pancake mix

1/4 cup of grated apple

Non stick cooking spray

1 tbsp oil

In a blender or processor, combine the water, ricotta, beet purée, vanilla and cinnamon. Dump the mixture into a medium bowl, add the pancake mix and apple. Stir until just combined. Batter should be slightly lumpy.

Coat a griddle or non stick frying pan with cooking spray and set on medium- high heat. When hot add the oil. Spoon the batter on to the pan or griddle using about 1/4 cup of pancake mix for each pancake. Cook pancakes until until bubbles form on the top and the batter is set (1-2 minutes). Flip the pancake and cook until golden brown on the other side (2-3 minutes).

You can use whatever syrup you like or whatever syrup is on hand. I live alone and don't make a habit of having pancakes or waffles so the first time I made this I realized after the pancakes were cooked that I had no syrup in my pantry. I did however have frozen blueberries in my freezer so I topped my pancakes with this:

1 cup blueberries ( fresh or frozen)

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

Cook blueberries with sugar and water until thick

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Of all the cookies that I make and bring to work, these have by far generated the most fanatical reviews. I first experienced these cookies in Jr. high when one of my besties Alayna made them for all the girls at Christmas time.

Make a double batch and start thinking about where you can hide some, because I promise that they will be devoured by whom ever is around.

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Add the 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and cream of tartar.  Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended.  Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer, and stir in remaining flour. 

Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Combine the 4 tablespoons sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon.  Shape the dough into 1 inch balls and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture to coat. Place balls of dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake for 10 to 11 minutes or until edges are beautifully golden.  Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

I am obsessed with soft chewy cookies so I only bake them for 8-9 minutes, but suit yourself!

I found the recipe here: http://www.popularcookierecipes.com/Snickerdoodle.html

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken

I've discovered the beauty and convenience of the slow cooker. How have I gone so long with out using one?! I just bought myself a small one and I have to say my first run with it was a complete success. I had been craving lemon roast potatoes for a while now, and for good reason I guess! Here is the recipe that my craving led me to create.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)

7-10 baby potatoes, quartered (or smaller)

2 cups chicken broth

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 vegetable bouillon ( chicken would be fine too)

5 tbsp lemon juice

Dried oregano

Salt and pepper

Lemon pepper or any kind of lemon herb mix

Sprinkle the chicken breasts with the oregano, salt and pepper. If chicken is thawed, rub it in to the chicken as best you can. In a frying pan lightly brown both sides of the chicken (2-3 minutes on each side). Place in your slow cooker pot.

In the same frying pan mix the broth, lemon juice, garlic, bouillon, and lemon pepper or herb mix. Bring to a simmer, whisk until well blended and pour over chicken in the pot.

Chop up potatoes into quarters, but eighths if you want them to cook faster. Place potatoes around chicken in the pot.

Very important!! You need to make sure that the potatoes and chicken are submerged in the liquid or you will be eating crunchy potatoes. Add more broth and a little bit of lemon juice if you need to.

I cooked it on high for 2 hours and low for 3, but low for 6 hours or high for 4 would be fine I think.

Enjoy :)

Poached Eggs Julia Child Style

I'm not the egg's biggest fan by any means. I don't mind them fried, but scrambled is out of the question. I do however, LOVE them poached. There is a recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. If you have seen the movie Julie and Julia, you might remember the scene where Julie tirelessly tries to poach an egg. I  was really intimidated by egg poaching after watching this movie and as such avoided the poached egg for years. I made them tonight though...I must have needed a challenge?!?! I don't know. It wasn't a challenge at all actually. It was really easy and they are deeeelish with some fresh grated parmesan, salt and pepper.

Try it out and let me know what you think!

Pour 2 inches of water into a skillet, add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and bring to a simmer

Crack the egg and pour into a saucer or shallow cereal bowl. Bring an edge of the bowl to the surface of the water so that you can just slide the egg into the water. Right away use a wooden spoon to fold  egg whites around and on top of the yolk.

Let the egg simmer on low for 4 minutes. Lift the egg out of the skillet with a ladle.

Julia Child does mention that the eggs should be very fresh. The carton that my eggs came from had been in my fridge for at least a week and a half. It probably gets more difficult to poach an egg as it gets older.

I like to eat them plain with salt and pepper as a post yoga or workout snack. I'm sure that they would be extra nice served on toast...or even better a toasted English muffin!! 

Now that my confidence is up on Julia Child Recipe's I'm thinking about trying out  boeuf bourguignon!

Best Banana Bread

I have spent a few years trying out different banana bread recipes. Most are too fluffy, some turn out too crunchy. I prefer a somewhat heavy, but very moist banana bread. My mom makes some of the best banana bread, but when I make her recipe it just isn't the same as when she makes it. By far, the best banana bread that I have ever come across was from a hut on the side of the road in Maui. I'm pretty sure that I asked the lady there for the recipe but she wouldn't give it.

In any case, I have found a banana bread recipe that I'm confident I will be loyal to for a very long time. There is a surprise ingredient that I would have NEVER thought to toss into a banana bread recipe. A few months ago I had a carton of sour cream that needed a purpose, so I googled 'recipes with sour cream' and came across this.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup butter
• 3 cups white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 6 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons baking soda
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

I found it here: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/banana-sour-cream-bread/Detail.aspx

I didn't use the 4 7x3 loaf pans, but used two normal loaf pans instead. Works just the same...either way you are getting a ton of banana bread!!  Enjoy :)

Here we go!!

I have finally found it. The 20 minutes that I need to crank out my inaugural blog post.  Truly, I feel as though I could use at least another 5 hours in every day. While I wait for the 29 hour day to come around I will make time to do the things in life that bring me great joy. Spending time with my loved ones and friends tops that list, but being creative and adventurous with food is a very close second. If you know me well, you know that I have a great affinity for cookbooks, cooking shows, and cooking websites. When I find a gem of a recipe, I have to share it.

So here I am to share my favorite recipes, test some new ones and cry about the ones that result in disaster!