Introducing Yam Brownies

Here it is! Whoever created the yam brownie is a genius. It's so delicious; yet completely unhealthy. I'm assuming that's why it tastes so good. I find it tastes a bit like cornbread but with a brownie texture.

 I forgot to take a picture but it looked like this.

Source

We reduced the sugar quantity down to 3/4 cup for both; thankfully. Even with the reduced amount, we still found it sweet... and I love me some sugar.

Let me know if you like it.

Homemade strawberry ice cream!

Found this amazing website, Hilah Cooking, that I love so much. Maybe because she talks to me in a "cooking for dummies" kind of language that's easy to understand. That was suppose to be a compliment. Her step-by-step video's help too when I don't understand the written instructions. It happens more than I'd like to admit.

I stumbled upon this homemade strawberry ice cream recipe and decided to give it a whirl. I am proud to say that a) it turned out edible, which is always a good thing and b) it was super delicious. I used local strawberries and we're planning on using cherries next time.

 My 2 suggestions:

 

1. If you don't have an ice cream maker, do this instead. 

Add ingredients to smaller freezer bag. Fill large freezer bag with ice and add 6 TBSP of salt. Place small bag in large bag. Shake for 10 minutes until it thickens. It gets cold so wrap it with a towel.

 

2. Let it thaw a bit before eating. It hardens more than traditional ice cream.

Is it sad that I look forward to sad days now?

DITY Challenge 1

A few days ago, I mentioned a new challenge I created for myself; The DITY Challenge.

Why the sudden challenge? Maybe I'm "nesting" or people are starting to rub off on me but I just feel like DOING stuff. Last night, I decided to start off the challenge by making my hubby a spaghetti dinner with homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs. This is a big deal to me. I'm a soup and grilled cheese sandwhich, kraft dinner, cereal loving, non-cooking wife.

I dislike the kitchen for 2 reasons:

1. My tastebuds hate me.
2. I have no idea how to cook.
   Do you know how hard it is to cook when you can't try what you're cooking? Things end up mushy, not seasoned right, or well done. I remember the first time I cooked asparagus. You could tie them in knots. Apparently that's bad.

My husband would add "...And you make a huge mess" to that list. Thanks.

My "spaghetti dinner" was more like rotini noodles with pasta sauce and meatballs.
Close enough.

I followed this recipe from All Recipes. My changes are in pink.

Italian Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs

Rated: Submitted By: Jeremy Photo By: F18NavyWife Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 2 Hours Ready In: 2 Hours 20 Minutes Servings: 6

"Easy but tasty tomato sauce with big meatballs cooks in just about two hours."

Ingredients:

MEATBALLS 1 pound lean ground beef 1 cup fresh bread crumbs 1 tablespoon dried parsley 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1 egg, beaten

SAUCE 3/4 cup chopped onion - added a bit more 5 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup olive oil 2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes - 1 can diced no salt/1 can crushed 2 teaspoons salt - maybe 0.5 - 1 tsp 1 teaspoon white sugar - a whole lot more 1 bay leaf 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste 3/4 teaspoon dried basil 1/2 teaspoon pepper - none, we're out.

Directions:

1.

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, parsley, Parmesan, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder and beaten egg. Mix well and form into 12 balls. Store, covered, in refrigerator until needed. I rolled them in flour and gave them a quick fry to seal in the juices. I read it in the review. There was something weird about putting raw meatballs in a sauce for 30 minutes.

2.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is translucent. Stir in tomatoes, salt, sugar and bay leaf. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 90 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, basil, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and meatballs and simmer 30 minutes more. Serve. ________________________________________________________________________________ Now. I can see where I went wrong here. 1. Not enough salt. Apparently, minimizing sodium content doesn't work for all recipes. 2. No pepper. Enough said. 3. I should have used either 2 cans whole tomatoes, 2 cans diced, or 2 cans crushed. In the end, the sauce was way too acidic so I threw in a bunch of sugar to cut it down. It felt like something was missing but it turned out OK. We've definitely had better but it wasn't bad. In the end, I'm just happy I made something I hadn't made before and that my husband didn't get sick. If anyone knows of a good spaghetti sauce recipe, let me know!

Facts of Me Hop + Balls

Pizza balls that is. I said I would post the recipe today so I've included it at the bottom!
But first, I stumbled upon this ONE DAY HOP hosted by Whitney.
Basically, it's a bunch of random facts about yourself!

Straws

Whenever I drink from a straw, I have to pinch it so barely anything comes out.

Pickles

I eat pickles inside out. Yes, it's possible.

Control

I'm a control freak. It's something I'm gradually working on.

Ducks

I have a rubber duck/anything duck collection. I love ducks.

Gossip

I am obsessed with celebrity gossip.

Organized

I'm extremely disorganized in an organized fashion which is extremely frustrating.

Planner
I love planning, organizing, researching, and promoting.

Sleep talking
I talk (and sometimes jump on the bed screaming at the curtains) in my sleep. It usually scares the crap out of my husband but he seems to be getting used to it.

Bilingual
I am *technically* bilingual in English and French although the French part is very a bit rusty. I would love to learn Spanish.

Holding hands
If my husband and I are holding hands, I can’t separate them to go around something. If he goes one way, I have to follow the same way and vice versa. When I turn one way; I have to turn back the same. If I don't, I get anxiety. It’s messed up.

Anxiety
I have anxiety issues. Planes, being alone at night, spiders, and natural disasters cause me panic attacks. Yet I can speak to 100+ people at an event no problem. My anxiety is irrational based. Well sorry to burst your bubble Doc, but I don't understand how 2 people controlling a huge heavy metal box thousands of feet in the air hitting invisible potholes is irrational… that's all I'm sayin'.

Hair
I love having my hair played with. It’s now a form of bribery my husband uses.

Memory

I have a bad memory. I don't even remember what I was going to write next.

Education

I would rather be in school full-time than work.

******************************************

Onto the next topic. Pizza Balls! Mmmmm.

I found a Pizza Balls recipe on Pinterest so we decided to try it. 

Our version

Ingredients

• Homemade pizza dough in the breadmaker (I used 1/2 tsp each of garlic bits & italian this time)
• 3 meats pizza toppings
• Mozzarella cheese
• 1 beaten egg
• Parmesan
• Pizza sauce

Roll dough and cut into squares (or circles). Stack meat and cheese on top. Gather up the edges of the dough. Line up rolls in a greased pan. Brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes depending on how crispy you like it.

Dip away and eat. I would have preferred a cheese sauce instead of the pizza sauce myself.

Enjoy!

Yummy homemade lasagna

Mmm homemade lasagna. The first time we made lasagna, it didn't turn out very well.

I'm very happy with the results of this recipe. We made some modifications.

So here you go readers! Enjoy and have a date night with your significant other or a glass of wine!

Lasagna

Changes we made are in pink

 

Recipe - Original recipe makes 12 servings

 

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

1 pounds weet Italian sausage we ommited this3/4 pound lean ground beef we had 1.3lbs of ground beef - depends if you like a meaty sauce

1/2 cup minced onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed we added more because we LOVE garlic

1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste the cans we have are 5.5oz

2 (6.5 ounce) cans canned tomato sauce cans are 5.5oz + we don't have tomato sauce so we made it.

2 cans tomato paste to 2 cans water. Stir. Equals 2 can tomato paste. I added a teaspoon of sugar to cut down the acidity.

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds ommited - didn't have any

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 tablespoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley used dried parsley

12 lasagna noodles we used approx 8 because of the containers we used

16 ounces ricotta cheese

1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 pound mozzarella cheese, sliced we used shredded and use what you like.. we love cheese.
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese wing it

Directions

     1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.

I used a saucepan because I don't even know what a dutch oven is. I told you.. I don't cook.

 

     2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 - 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

CHANGE: See picture below. We used a pyrex dish, placed the noodles in it, and covered them with boiling water from a kettle for 30 minutes. Perfectly fine and that way, the noodles don't break and cook evenly.

Remember the egg. Otherwise spreading ricotta cheese can be difficult. I may have forgotten this step when telling my husband the layers. Luckily, I re-read everything halfway through.

 

     3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

We are freezing ours so no need!

 

     4. To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

 

     5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

 Bon Appetit!

Source

                                                                                                   

 

The sauce

 

 

Prepping the noodles
Fill with boiling water

 

 

We bought these freezable containers at the Dollar Store.

It's a great idea especially if you're pregnant so you have ready to go meals!

Pop em in the oven and voila.

 

 

 Yum.

 

Who doesn't like homemade pizza?

You know what's awesome? Homemade food.

You know what's even better than homemade food? When someone else makes it for you.
But that wasn't the case Friday night. My hubby and I tackled homemade pizza and lasagna.
I actually helped. It's called team work. He does the work while I supervised.
Just kidding...
Since I got an iPad for Christmas, we decided to put my All Recipes app to good use!
I thought I would share the pizza recipe we used! Mmm.

Homemade Pizza

Changes we made are in pink

Recipe

• 3/4 cupwarm water - 100 to 110 degrees F (40 to 45 degrees C)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoonsalt
• 1/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons olive oil wing it - it's really up to you

Directions

 

     1. Pour the warm water into the pan of the bread machine, and add the flour on top of the water. Sprinkle with salt and sugar, and top with the yeast. Set the machine on the dough setting, and push the start button. When the machine signals that the dough is finished, transfer to a well-floured work surface.
I added approx 1- 2 tsp (each) of italian seasoning and garlic bits to the flour because we wanted a herb dough. Be careful; a little goes a long way.

 

     2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

 

      3. Roll or stretch the dough out into thin crust about 14 inches across. Leave dough thick at the edge. Place the dough onto a 14-inch pizza baking sheet, and brush the dough with the olive oil.
Make sure you really roll the dough if you want a thin crust. It might look thin but I found it was still a bit thick for us. Next time, we will go thinner. We also couldn't find our pizza sheet so we used a cookie sheet. We brushed a bit of olive oil to the sheet so the dough wouldn't stick.

 

     4. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes before removing to top with desired ingredients for final baking.

For some reason it doesn't tell you how long to cook the pizza so I think it's based on how crispy you want it. We had it in there for approx 15-20 minutes and that was really crispy.

 

Enjoy!

 

All Recipes - Pizza

                                                                         



I love our breadmaker.

 

 

Yummy herb dough.

 

 

We like different toppings.

 

  

Cosmo being a cutie pie while we waited.

 

 

Might not look pretty but it sure tasted delicious!

 

 

It tasted so good!

 

What's your favorite homemade dish?

Paleo: Olive, garlic & lemon chicken

Some facts about me and cooking:

• I don't exactly like to cook. My tastebuds hate me. That makes it very difficult when I can't sample what I'm cooking.
• My idea of cooking is spaghetti, 4 cheese sauce, and pickles on top because it takes 9 minutes from start to finish.
• I can cook if I really want to. Meaning, I can cook when I'm trying to impress my hubby.
• If it were up to me I would hire a personal chef... tomorrow. Can I throw in a house cleaner too? One day Marci. One day.

Either way, I'm trying to "expand my horizons" as they say. I normally dislike chicken so this was a big step for me.

This is a chicken recipe I tried that turned pretty good despite the fact that it didn't turn out like the picture. This is probably a good time to mention that I may skip over instructions or miss things. I always tend to add more lemon. Note: Do not add more lemon.

Why do recipe pictures always lie by the way?

How it's suppose to look

Paleo Diet Lifestyle

 

How it turned out

Uhhh???

 

*Remember Paleo is eating clean. No refined sugar. No dairy. No grains. 

The ingredients can be substituted for non paleo foods if you wish.*
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter (or ghee), tallow, coconut oil or poultry fat; we used coconut oil
• 1/2 lb black olives (kalamata), cut in half; we excluded this
• 8 chicken thighs, with bones and skin;
• 3 cups onions, sliced thin;
• 30 gloves garlic, minced and smashed almost to a paste;
• 1/2 cup lemon juice;
• 2 extra lemons, thickly sliced (remove seeds with the tip of a knife);
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock;
• A bunch of picked thyme leaves;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

Technique

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
2. Melt the first 1/4 cup fat in a large and hot pan and brown the chicken pieces on all sides. It will take about 6 minutes total. Set the chicken aside. May have forgotten the whole browning part here.
3. Cook the onions until soft, about 3 minutes, and make sure to scrape all the delicious chicken bits off the pan while doing so.
4. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute, until fragrant. You can season with salt and pepper at this point.
5. Add the chicken stock, thyme and lemon juice and return the chicken thighs to the pan, skin side up.
6. Bring to a simmer and put the pan, covered, in the hot oven for about 20 minutes. Just noticed it said oven, oops.
7. Remove the lid, add the halved olives as well as the lemon slices and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes uncovered.
8. Serve the chicken with the olive, garlic and lemon sauce as well as with some of the lemon slices.

ENJOY!!!

Yummy chocolate chip cookies!

Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies

When my husband and I followed a paleo lifestyle earlier this year, we came across this recipe for chocolate chip cookies and made them every week. It's a great way to satisfy a sweet tooth in a healthier way. Since I'm a picky eater, I was really surprised that I loved them so much.
We made some slight modifications (pink) until we came up with something we really enjoyed.

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract (Pure vanilla can be expensive; we used the cheaper stuff when we didn't have any)
• 1 1/2 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips (You can use dark chocolate chips)
• 1/2 cup melted Coconut Oil
• 1/2 cup real Maple Syrup
• 2 whole Eggs (free range)
• 3 cup Blanched Almond Flour
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl combine dry ingredients.
3. In a small mixing bowl beat eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry and beat with hand mixer until combined.
5. Melt coconut oil, pour into batter, and continue to blend until combined.
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, drop balls of cookie dough, about a tablespoon in size.
8. Bake for 15 minutes.
9. Let cool and serve with coconut milk.

The Food Lovers Kitchen