Checkerboard Cake!

Okay, It's finally done, and I had to wait all day and after dinner to cut into it and see if it worked....and... It looked really cool inside, I just wished the cake part would have tasted better. :( It was kinda dry. The batter needed to be really thick to hold it shape in the circles and not blend together, so maybe a pound cake would work?? If anyone has a good cake recipe that has thick batter....please let me know. :)

Oh the other hand, I made homemade Chocolate mousse for the filling, which was AMAZING!!! So amazing that I ate so much of it while frosting it, that I can't even look at it anymore...

Well, here are some pictures of the Cake:

Ta, Da! The Inside:

It may not be perfect, but I am sure that the pictures on the box are totally fake. I don't think that it is possible to get it Absolutely Perfect... at least that's what I have to tell myself so I don't go crazy!

My hubby's birthday cake!

Okay, so I was trying to think of a really yummy cake to make my hubby for his birthday, which is Wednesday...Today! I was at Michael's looking for a cake frosting spreader, and I saw Checkerboard Cake pans.

I thought, that looks hard, but how difficult could it be, plus it looks really cool! Anyway, I bought the thing, brought it home and saw that there is a recipe on the box that you are supposed to use. I looked online and everyone who said they used that recipe said it was dry. So I went looking for another. I found one which was made for the William Sonoma Cake pan, which I decided to attempt.

After two full pages of recipe and 2 1/2 hours later, they are finally out of the oven! Holy Moly! That was the biggest pain in the rear...let me tell you! I am OCD, when it comes to baking. I want everything to be perfect. So it took me FOREVER to get the batter into the pans evenly. Now it is one in the morning, and I am waiting for the cupcakes to be ready with the extra batter I had left. I am so exhausted!

Well, I think I hear them beeping, so here are a few pics to show what I have gotten myself into!

Finally in the pans:

Yay! Oven time! The circles look even to me!

Now they are out of the oven, and they definitely aren't perfect circles, so hopefully they still turn out and will be a checkerboard when it is all done! Cross your fingers!!!

This is what it should look like tomorrow:

Please, Please, inside of cake.. look like that tomorrow!!!!

PF Chang's (cont.)

Like I said before, we love PF Chang's, and I found the Orange Peel Chicken recipe and decided to make it. I was a little worried, because we are so in love with this chicken, we didn't wanna make it and be disappointed. And the only reason I AM sharing this with you is because the sauce really tastes just like it!

So, here is the recipe. I'm sure you could make it without breading the chicken. It would make it a lot healthier and would probably taste just as good. :)

Orange Peel Chicken

Sauce:

1 T. vegetable oil

2 T. minced garlic

4 green onions, sliced

1 c. tomato sauce

1/2 c. water

1/4 c. sugar

2 T. oriental chili-garlic sauce (less if you don't want it too spicy)

1 T. soy sauce

Chicken:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 chicken breasts

1 egg, beaten

1 c. milk

1 c. flour

1 orange (peel from 1/4 orange, julienned into 1/8-inch thick strips)

1 c. sugar snap peas, snow peas or green beans

1/4 c. Peanuts, unsalted

Directions:

1. Prepare sauce by heating 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sliced green onions. Add tomato sauce and water quickly before the garlic burns. Add sugar, chili garlic sauce and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Simmer 5 to 6 minutes or until sauce thickens, then turn off the heat.

2. Prepare the chicken by heating 1/2 cup oil in a wok over medium heat. Slice chicken breast fillets into bite-size pieces. Combine beaten egg with milk in a medium bowl. Pour the flour into another medium bowl.

3. Coat chicken pieces by dropping them into the flour a few at a time, then into the egg/milk mixture and back into the flour. Arrange coated chicken on a plate until all chicken is coated.

4. When oil in the wok is hot, add about half of the chicken to the oil and cook for a couple minutes or until brown on one side, then flip the chicken over. When chicken is golden brown, remove the pieces to a rack or paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining chicken. When all of the chicken is cooked rinse the oil out of the wok with water and place it back on the stove to heat up.

5. When wok is hot again add julienned orange peel, chicken and peanuts. Heat for 20 to 30 seconds or so, stirring gently. Add sugar peas and sauce to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir dish a couple times but do it gently so you don't knock the coating off the chicken. Cook until the sauce thickens then serve up the dish with white or brown rice on the side.

PF Chang's at home!

Justin and I are pretty much "regulars" at PF Chang's. We always get the same things: Tofu Lettuce Wraps or Chang's chicken noodle soup, and we ALWAYS get Orange Chicken, with added peanuts and snap peas.

A while ago I found the lettuce wrap recipe and have made it a few times switching from tofu to chicken. Justin thinks they even taste better than PF Chang's. They are super easy and really good. I promise they really taste like them!

Lettuce Wraps:

Filling:

3 T. olive oil

2 chicken breasts or 1 package Extra Firm Tofu

1 c. water chestnuts

2/3 c. mushrooms

3 T. chopped green onions

1 tsp. minced garlic

Stir-fry sauce:

Mix 2 T. soy sauce, 2 T. brown sugar and 1/2 tsp. rice vinegar.

1/2 head iceberg lettuce-- use individual lettuce leaves to place filling (like a lettuce taco!)

Instructions:

1. Bring oil to high heat in wok or pan. Saute chicken* 4-5 minutes per side until done. Remove from pan and cool. Mince chicken when cool. Put back into pan.

(*if you are using tofu: remove from package, put in paper towel to remove excess moisture. Do NOT SQUEEZE! Carefully cut tofu into small cubes. Add to hot oiled skillet and cook until lightly browned on all sides. Do not remove from pan.)

2. Add the rest of ingredients (garlic, onion, water chestnuts and mushrooms) to the pan at medium-high heat. Add stir-fry sauce and saute a couple minutes.

3. Serve in lettuce cups with special sauce.

Tofu cubes, browning in olive oil:

Mix all ingredients with stir-fry sauce:

Place in lettuce cups:

This is the special sauce to serve with the lettuce wraps. It adds some extra spice to them.

*This recipe makes a ton, so it would be wise to cut it in half.

Special Sauce:

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 c. water

2 T. soy sauce

2 T. rice vinegar

1/8 tsp. sesame oil

2 T. ketchup

1 T. lemon juice

Dissolve sugar in water. Mix the rest of the above ingredients and refrigerate.

In separate bowl, mix 1 T. hot mustard+2 tsp. hot water, set aside.

Before ready to serve, add desired amount of garlic & red chile paste and mustard to individual dishes.

Yummy Spaghetti

So I started out making my mom's recipe for spaghetti sauce, but I changed it up so much it's my own. So enjoy!

Angela's Spaghetti Sauce:

1 medium onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb. ground meat (beef, turkey... or even no meat at all)

1 large (28 oz.) can diced or crushed tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 large fresh tomato (I use "tomatoes on the vine")

Lots of fresh chopped basil, to taste

2 T. fresh oregano, chopped

1 T. dried parsley

S&P to taste

Olive oil

In large pot saute onion and garlic with 2-4 T. olive oil. Add desired ground meat, and brown. Add the can of tomatoes, fresh tomato and paste. Season with oregano, parsley and basil. I use about 2 handfuls of fresh basil. Then add S&P to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Serve with your favorite pasta and the Macaroni Grill Rosemary Bread from my previous post. :)

*If you want to sneak in some extra veggies without the kids knowin' you can add shredded carrots, zucchini or mushrooms.

**if you don't have fresh oregano, you would be fine using dried. I wouldn't use dried basil though, because thats where a lot of the freshness comes from. I always like using mostly fresh ingredients, that's why I added a fresh tomato in the recipe, so it wasn't all canned.

***Add what you want or take things out and make it your own! :) But share with us what you did :)

Macaroni Grill at home!

I saw the recipe for Macaroni Grill's Rosemary Bread on one of the blogs I follow, and I had to make it. So I had to figure out a main dish, and I remembered I had my mom's Spaghetti Sauce Recipe. Fresh Spaghetti sauce it so easy, and it's a thousand times better (and healthier) than the bottled stuff. Here you go! And you will never wanna use that bottled junk again!

Waiting for the bread to rise...

Fresh out of the oven...

I highly recommend to make the Rosemary bread first, and start the spaghetti sauce when it is rising in the oven. The bread has to rise 2 times, so it takes about 2 hours. It's actually perfect though because it gives the sauce time to simmer and bring out all the flavors!

Rosemary Bread from Macaroni Grill

1 T. dry yeast

1 T. sugar

1 C. warm water (105-115 degrees)

2 1/2 C. flour, divided

1 tsp. salt

2 T. rosemary, chopped

1 T. olive oil

2 T. butter or margarine

Coarsely ground salt (kosher is perfect)

Put the yeast, water and sugar into a blender. Mix it until it is frothy.Turn the oven onto 200°. (You just need to warm it up; you’re not baking yet.)

To the mixing bowl of yeast mixture, add two cups of the flour, salt, and half of your chopped rosemary. Keep the other half cup of flour close at hand. Knead the dough for a few minutes. Add the rest of the flour as needed to get the dough to the right consistency (soft and stretchy without being overly sticky).

*Now, turn the oven OFF*

Lift the dough out of the mixing bowl. Add the olive oil to a bowl and swirl it around. Roll the dough in the olive oil so it is well coated and let it sit in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and place it in the oven (the oven should be off by now, if you missed that step). Leave the door cracked so it isn’t too hot in there.Let the dough rise for about an hour. It should be approximately doubled in size. Punch the dough down and knead it again. Divide it into two equal sized lumps and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes.

Prepare your baking pan (I used a cookie sheet with parchment paper). If the surface is not naturally non-stick, spray it with the cooking spray. Shape the dough into two oval-shaped loaves and arrange on the pan. Melt the butter or margarine. Use a brush to paint the surface of the loaves with butter. Use all of the butter. The loaves will be quite saturated when you’re done. Take the rest of the chopped rosemary and sprinkle it over the loaves. Pat it down gently to set it into the dough. Return the loaves to the oven. Don’t turn it on yet. Let the dough rise again, for about 45 minutes. Remove the loaves and preheat the oven to 450°. Sprinkle a little bit of coarse salt over the loaves. Return the dough to the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes* until light brown.Makes two loaves. Best enjoyed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and garlic**.

*I only cooked the bread about 18 minutes, because it turned brown quickly and I didn't want it to dry out. So, I would keep an eye on it, every oven is different.

** I put some chopped garlic to my cookie sheet while the bread was baking to create oven roasted garlic to add to the oil and vinegar for a dipping sauce. It was really good.

I am on a mission!

I'm on a mission to be good at blogging and photographing my food. We have a really good camera (Nikon D80), so I have the capability to take some really cool shots of my food. However, this camera is pretty high-tech(to me), and you have to use crazy settings to make pictures look good, so it takes practice! I took like 100 pictures while I was baking these Chocolate Chip cookies, and think I came out with a pretty good one. I also took pics of my new adorable cake stand that has red ribbon with white polka dots! So cute!

Anyway, on to the SWEETS....These chocolate chip cookies turn out AMAZING every time, and I don't know if I will ever use another recipe! I would keep this recipe to myself, but the secret is too amazing not to share! Anyway, here they are:

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER

1 c. unsalted butter (softened...but not melted)

3/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/2 c. flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

*Milk Chocolate Chips

Hand mix the butter and both sugars until incorporated (I use a wooden spoon). Add vanilla and eggs. Sift dry ingredients together and add to mix. Mix thoroughly and add a whole package of milk chocolate chips. (I think the Ghirardelli ones are the best, Guittard are good too) Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, or until barely brown.

*You can use whatever chips you want. Milk chocolate chips are my favorite! This time I used half milk chocolate and half Reese's Peanut butter chips. They are so yummy! Enjoy!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Madness!

I should have taken a picture of these all cut up to show the inside chunky texture....I will next time... Anyway, they were super yummy! They even tasted better the next day....even though I only had one little square, cuz that's all that was left.. :( "Thanks Justin"... Hehe... At least he was nice enough to think of saving me one....I'm sure it took lots of willpower!

*After I baked these I found out that Trader Joe's makes little mini peanut butter cups, about the size of chocolate chips. They would have been really good to use instead of the Reese's...or in addition! :)

Reese's Peanut Butter Blondies

1 c. AP flour

1/4 c. cake flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/3 c. peanut butter (smooth)

1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm

1 c. firmly packed light brown sugar

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. chopped Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

3/4 c. peanut butter chips

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Grease or spray an 8X8 baking pan and line it with parchment paper or foil that overhangs the sides (you will use it to lift the blondies out of the pan).

Mix together the AP flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Whisk together (by hand) the melted butter and peanut butter. Add the brown sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Switching to a wooden spoon or a spatula, mix in the sifted flour mixture. Stir in the chips and peanut butter cups. The dough will be thick and chunky.

Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and spread it in evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating front to back halfway through. The bars are done when the dough is set and golden.

**Optional: you can press peanut butter cups into the surface of the blondies while they are still warm. Let the pan and bars cool completely on a cooling rack. Slice the bars into 4 quadrants--and then slice each quadrant into 4 squares. Try not to eat them all! :)

Yummy Sugar Cookies!

This Sugar Cookie recipe was always my favorite growing up. I remember my Sister-in-law Lynda made them once with a carrot cookie cutter. She put orange frosting on the bottom and green for the top leafy part. Not only were they adorable, they tasted so good! Dense and chewy with homemade cream cheese frosting. YUM!

*I made these heart-shaped cookies for Valentine's Day

Cream Cheese Sugar Cookies

1 c. sugar

1 c. butter

3 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together above ingredients and add 2-1/4 c. flour. Chill for 2 hours. Roll out on lightly floured surface and cut into desired shapes. Bake at 375 for about 7-10 minutes depending on size of cookie. I usually take them out when they are beginning to turn light brown on the edges. Cool on wire rack and frost...

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese (softened)

1 cube butter (softened)

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 lb. powdered sugar

Mix until light and fluffy.

Something healthy and tasty to start!

I originally found this recipe on the food network, but tweaked it A LOT, so I think I can claim it as my own. Garbanzo beans, otherwise known as "chickpeas" are high in fiber and a great source of protein. It's also used as the base in Hummus!

This Recipe is super fresh and clean. Tastes great the next day too.

Avocado-Chickpea Salad

1-can garbanzo beans (rinsed and drained)

2-avocados, chopped

2-roma tomatoes, chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/4 c. white wine vinegar

1/8 c. olive oil

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. paprika

Squeeze fresh lime

Handful fresh cilantro (chopped)

Add all items to bowl, mix. Top with crumbled tortilla chips just prior to serving.

*I usually use the blue corn tortilla chips from Trader Joe's

**Last night I made my own tortilla strips: I sliced corn tortillas into strips, sprayed them with cooking spray and topped them with fresh ground Sea Salt. I placed them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 400 until crispy. They cook quick so keep an eye on them. :)

The first step is: Admitting you have a Problem

Okay, I admit, I have ALWAYS had a sweet tooth. I have always been a baker, and tried to sneak in any type of sugar whenever possible. I think it's because when I was younger, there were absolutely NO treats around my house, so junk food was like an "untouchable" object. Then I realized that I could take all the boring ingredients from my mom's cupboards and create yummy treats!

Now that I am married and there are only 2 of us, it's kind of hard to bake a huge batch of cookies... what am I supposed to do with them!? We have resorted to donating them to neighbors and I have even started bringing them to the gym. I KNOW.....Who brings cookies to the gym? I am the devil....but at least these people are working out... so it balances out...right??

Anyway, since I met my husband, I have been cooking lots of dinners and other meals other than dessert. I have learned how to create really healthy and yummy recipes from scratch, so I will share those along with the other yummy-but-not-so-healthy items. It's all about balance and moderation. :)