Fruit & Oatmeal Flax Smoothie

Oatmeal and smoothies together equal pure bliss. I make these smoothies for a quick breakfast in the morning and sip it on my drive into work in my super cool travel cup. Another really great thing is that this is full of healthy things and we all need some health in our lives. Oatmeal is always good and you need fruits to complete your diet, lots of them. I also added some ground flax seed because that’s how I roll. I love flax, mainly because I don’t eat much fish (I’m sure my boyfriend will eventually change this fact) and flax contains Omega 3 fatty acids and Omega 3 fatty acids rock the world!

I like when recipes are customizable because whenever you are missing something like say….strawberries, you can substitute them for any other fruit you do have, or would like. That is great for me as someone who always forgets something and then doesn’t want to go back out to get it.

I use my trustworthy food processor for most smoothies because my blender is the worst blender, ever. But you can use whatever you want; food processor, blender, your super cool Vitamix that I hate you for having… This food processor is probably the best thing I got out of my previous relationship. Thanks, guy!

Fruit & Oatmeal Flax Smoothie

Serving Size: 2 large glasses (16oz)

ingredients:

• 1 cup ice
• 1 cup mixed berries (or whatever fruit you’d prefer)
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (plain & low fat)
• 2 tablespoons flax seed meal (or your own ground flax seeds)

directions:

1. Add the ice and fruit to a food processor or blender. Blend together until ice is crushed
2. Next, add the oats and flax seed meal to the food processor and blend until the oats are incorporated fully.
3. Lastly, add the yogurt and milk and pulse a few more times until creamy.

2012 Ambitions

2012 is a big year for me; I am suppose to graduate this year and towards the end of 2012 – I am planning on moving! Going to get my Registered Dietician credentials, or ya know…scrap that plan and go to culinary school. We all know I have a hard time making decisions, especially important life changing ones. It also depends on where I am living and what is available school wise. Regardless, I know I am destined for great things, whatever they are, and I know I will figure it all out eventually.

I have compiled a list of recipes I want to have finished by the time January 1st 2013 gets here. I will add things to this list whenever I get inspired and I will cross things off as soon as I make them! Posts will be coming soon on the items crossed off!

2012 post ideas:

• Stuffed French Toast
• Eggplant Mozz Melts
• Pecan Bread
• Blueberry Ice Cream
• Poutine
• Sweet Potato Fries
• Carrot Cake Cheesecake
• Blueberry Syrup
• Salted Caramel Sauce
• Mozzarella Sticks
• Roasted Winter Squash
• Oatmeal Smoothie
• Banana Nutella Panini
• Kale Chips
• Maple Sugar Pie
• Broccoli & Cheddar Soup
• Poptarts
• Granola
• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• Coffee Ice Cream
• Pumpkin Ice Cream
• Eggplant Parm
• Egg Boats
• Bacon Eggs & Toast Cups
• Carrot Cake Jam
• Black Bean Soup
• Marshmallows
• Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies
• Fig Galette
• Homemade Pb cups
• Breakfast Quinoa (Eggs & Kale)
• Shrimp Creole
• Butternut Squash Lasagna
• Blueberry Cucumber Smoothie
• Spinach Oatmeal
• Banana Jam

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

I’m not completely sure what to call these bad boys. Are they cookies? Are they truffles? I don’t really care! Whatever you call them, they are extremely addictive and I can’t get enough of them.

I had these last year at a Christmas party so when I first read this recipe I never would have guessed they were made with vanilla wafers. I was a little thrown off by that ingredient but after making them myself and eating them, I remembered one of my favorite childhood snacks, Nutty Bars!  Have you ever had those Nutty Bars by Little Debbie? They taste exactly like that! I don’t normally buy things like that but since I grew up eating them, I had to get the recipe from my ex’s mom. (She rocks!)

Also, I know the hot cocoa packets sound strange too, I’m sure you could replace it with regular cocoa. I followed the instructions as is and they turned out wonderful.

In other news, I have a surprise for you so check back soon!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

Serving size: makes about 20.

ingredients:

• 1/3 cup hot water.
• 5 packets (envelopes) of hot cocoa mix.
• 1 cup peanut butter.
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup.
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar-divided
• 2 cups crushed vanilla wafers

directions:

1. Whisk cocoa mix w/ hot water til smooth.
2. Stir in peanut butter and corn syrup until blended.
3. Blend in 1 cup powdered sugar and wafers until well combined.
4. Roll mixture into balls and cover w/ remaining powdered sugar.
5. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Gingerbread Cookies

These little gingerbread men were made in a tipsy frenzy; for my little nieces and nephew, Helena, Steven and Lilly.  Before Christmas, I gathered ingredients for these guys in a plastic bag and headed out with my friend Stephanie for a day of shopping, followed by a night cooking and baking.

Unfortunately, These guys became stale before I finished my Christmas shopping for the kids. I didn’t freeze them because I forgot.  I made them other Christmas cookies to enjoy in January! I am such a bad aunt!

That night, we made mac and cheese for ourselves and Don. This recipe is becoming a go-to-quick-fix for dinner. Actually, I think I’ll be making it again this week with some broccoli in the mix of the cheesy goodness that is macaroni and cheese. After we got the mac and cheese together, we waited to put it in the oven while we worked on these cookies. We made gingerbread snowflakes, bells, candy canes and the classic gingerbread man.

While mixing the cookie dough, I remembered my hatred for cookie cut outs. Is that horrible? Also, piping really isn’t my thing. I can pipe a cupcake and ice a cake but I don’t like doing it for cookies. You would think that because I have an artistic background that I would be all for it, but I’ve never mastered it. Mainly because it takes a lot of patience and practice and I am just not patient with anything! So you will notice that these cookies don’t have cute buttons on them or faces. They are blank gingerbread men, I sort of feel bad for them now. Poor, faceless gingerbread cookies!

Gingerbread Cookies

makes approximately 16 large cookies

ingredients:

• 6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon finely ground pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup unsulfured molasses

directions:

1. Whisk the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda) and set aside.
2. Place the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and mix together on medium speed until fluffy. (Use an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment or a hand mixer.)
3. Add spices and salt then eggs and molasses.
4. Switching to a lower setting and slowly mix in the flour until combined.
5. Divide dough in half and refrigerate for at least an hour before rolling out.
6. Preheat oven to 350 and roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick (I usually do this between two sheets of wax paper. )
7. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until  lightly brown around the edges.

Source: from Martha Stewart

Fall semester 2011 & Pesto Fettuccine Shrimp Pasta

I just finished my first semester back at College after a 5 year hiatus! Phew! The semester ended a week ago and I started to cook again! I missed my kitchen and my weekends off. I’ve been taking night classes so I can still keep my 8am-4pm day job. Winter break started a week ago and I’ve been trying to relax and I was finding myself a little bored, so naturally I landed in the kitchen!

I’ve been telling everyone I see, even strangers: I made the Dean’s List! Okay, I haven’t really been telling strangers but I am extremely proud of myself. My first semester back in five years and I did so well that my name will appear on the Dean’s List! I struggled through some projects and breezed through others, hello “A” on my diet analysis project! My nutrition class was life changing and so great. I will miss spending my Wednesday evenings with my favorite professor: Doc LaRosa, you are awesome! I am now seriously considering becoming a Registered Dietitian! Samantha Seeley, Dean’s List and eventually Samantha Seeley, R.D?

It was touch and go there for awhile in one particular short story class. I handed in tear soaked essays on beating hearts under floor boards and deteriorating yellow wallpaper that had the capability to drive someone insane. English is my best subject, or at least it was. My teacher was really tough and yes, I cried. We had a running joke by the end of the semester that my typed pages were covered in blood, sweat and tears. He eventually started giving me B’s and I ended the class with a B-, somehow. I probably wouldn’t have finished the class without the encouragement and guidance from my Aunt Sherri or the nights my boyfriend spent calming me down and trying to stop my tears. True story.

Incoming: Christmas cookie posts. I’m a little late to the cookie game this year. Thanks, College!

Fettuccine Shrimp Pasta with Pesto Sauce

Serving size: 4

ingredients:

for pasta:

• 8oz Fettuccine
• Shrimp, precooked

for pesto: (makes about 1 cup)

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
• 3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

directions:

for pasta:

1. Boil lightly salted water in a large pot.
2. Add the fettuccine and stir frequently until cooked to your liking.
3. Drain and run cold water over the noodles so they don’t stick together.
4. Let sit while you work on the pesto sauce.

for pesto:

1. Combine the basil with your choice of nuts in a food processor, pulse a few times.
2. Add garlic and pulse a few more times.
3. While the food processor is on, add the olive oil through the open top.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste and scrape down the sides of the food processor.
5. Take out a large skillet and combine the pesto sauce with the fettuccine.
6. Add as much shrimp as you desire, I added a large handful.
7. Turn burner on medium and cook until heated.

Using Thanksgiving Leftovers: Orange Cranberry Parfait

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving! If you ended up having crazy people over who don’t like cranberry sauce (like our guests) then you will probably have a good amount left over. Look no further for an idea to use it up. This orange cranberry parfait uses the cranberry sauce in this recipe. You can use any form of cranberry sauce so feel free to use your favorite stand by.

You will need: leftover cranberry sauce, vanilla or plain greek yogurt and some type of crunchy granola or in this case: apple-cinnamon rice cakes.

Orange-Cranberry Parfait

ingredients:

• Leftover cranberry sauce
• Vanilla or plain greek yogurt
• Apple-cinnamon rice cakes (I used the Quaker brand)

directions:

1. Make the cranberry sauce in this recipe or use your favorite recipe.
2. In a glass, layer the greek yogurt, cranberry sauce and crushed rice cakes.

Homemade Cherry Pie LÄRABARS

A year ago I ate my first LÄRABAR. I don’t know what possessed me to buy it, the packaging I suppose. It was the Apple Pie flavor and I fell head over heels in love with it.

Only recently have I attempted to replicate my love, the LÄRABAR. I have briefly thought about it before when I bought the bars and realized my grocery store total jumped a good amount. They are expensive! I’ve been lucky a few times to find them on sale for $1.00!

My nutrition class received an assignment to develop a recipe for an energy bar. A low fat and high carbohydrate energy bar designed to be eaten before a workout.   I immediately thought of a LÄRABAR and decided to finally make them myself. I tried to replicate the Cherry Pie LÄRABAR, my second favorite.

I used almonds, unsweetened dried cherries and lots of dates! These are so easy to make that you will probably go to your kitchen immediately and make them, especially since LÄRABAR’s are so expensive! With this recipe I got 10 bars for the price of three or four, I wasn’t really counting.

While LÄRABAR’s are normally made with nuts I decided for the purpose of the class, that substituting oats for the nuts was a better idea. The oats would lower the fat content and be more suitable for the “low fat, high carbohydrate” criteria. I don’t actually know how the oats taste but I’m going to assume they taste almost as good. I will probably pick up some more dates and cherries and experiment using the oats. The best thing about this recipe is that it only requires 3 ingredients and there is no baking involved!

Cherry Pie LÄRABAR

Serving size: makes 10 bars

ingredients

• 10oz container of dates
• 6oz bag of almonds, walnuts or pecans (or 2-3 cups toasted oats)
• 1/2 cup dried unsweetened cherries (Substitute with any dried fruit for desired flavor)

directions

1. Place dates and cherries in a food processor and process until a paste is formed.
2. Transfer paste to a medium sized bowl.
3. Add nuts or oats to the processor and process until chopped.
4. Add the nuts or oats to date and cherry paste; kneed together with fingers (This is seriously fun.)
5. Line an 8×8 pan with parchment paper and press the paste and nut mixture into the pan.
6. Refrigerate in pan for ~2 hours.
7. Lift parchment out of pan and use a rolling pin to flatten the top of the bars.
8. With a large, sharp knife, cut into bars.
9. Wrap in plastic and store in the refrigerator.

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

I’m still shocked that I took this picture. Every time I look at it, I become filled with this sense of pride and happiness that comes with feeling really good about a finished product. I struggle with food photography. I want to do it well and most of the time, I fall short. Finding the perfect place for natural light is really the key and my house is hard pressed for lighting. I’ve tried every window I possibly could and finally I barged into my mom’s room to give her window a go. The side of the house her window is on gets the perfect amount of light around 10-11 am.

These Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins are great for a perfect fall day. The colors match the falling leaves beautifully and the flavors scream “autumn” in a way that only pumpkin and cranberry can.

I feel like my food photography can finally progress and continue to get better now that I know this magical spot within my mom’s room. I will have to time my cooking and baking a little  more around when she won’t be home, or just disturb her every weekend.

Honest opinions please, what do you think of these photos? Go ahead, hurt my ego.

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

ingredients:

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.
2. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil and juice in large mixer bowl; beat until just blended. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moistened. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.
3. Bake loaves for 60 to 65 minutes (muffins for 30-35 minutes) or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes two loaves of bread or one loaf and 6 large muffins.

Source: verybestbaking.com

Orange-Cranberry Sauce

Halloween has come and gone. New York saw its first snowfall of the year that weekend.  I was devastated; I missed a big party that I actually was planning on attending! I never attend parties, so this was a big deal!

I dislike snow quite a bit but I am learning to love it in anticipation for a big move that is in the works… I always thought I’d move south and be rid of snow. Things don’t always work how you envision them, which is completely okay with me in this case.

It is time to start thinking about Thanksgiving! My mom usually does all the cooking for the holidays because when we are both in the kitchen at the same time, we get judgmental and irritated with each other. This year, I’m not letting her do all of the cooking and will be focusing on sides and desserts. She can deal with the bird! I find stuffing a turkey almost unbearable!

I am the only person at our Thanksgiving dinners who enjoys the tart flavors of this side dish. My father and I were the ones to scarf down the cranberry sauce and get disgusted looks from our family members around the table. Now it is just me and there is no one to defend my love of cranberries. There is always a discussion about how “gross” or “yucky” it is. Dad, I’m still eating it and I think of you every time!

If I’m going to the only one to eat it, then it is going to be done my way- chunky and not from a can! Cranberry sauce is best when it is made with real cranberries and a little bit of orange flavor. (In this case, juice but the zest of an orange would work beautifully)

Orange-Cranberry Sauce

ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

What is better than right-out-of-the-oven melt-y macaroni and cheese with the crunchy bread crumbs on top, all toasted up to perfection? Not much, I’d wager.

Comfort food at its finest, folks! So warm, cheesy and absolutely delish! With the already snowy weather we’ve  had on the east coast, I for one needed some mac and cheese to get me through the October winter nights (I believe this was unheard of since 1952?)

This was even good before being baked. I may have eaten a few fork full’s of the newly coated noodles while putting them into the baking dish. It was similar to a grown up version of the Kraft mac and cheese “blue box.” The dry mustard makes this dish, don’t omit it. Last time I made it I didn’t have any dry mustard and it was good, but the difference is amazing! Use it! You’re welcome.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

ingredients

• 4 cups Dried Macaroni
• 1 whole Egg Beaten
• 1/4 cup (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
• 1/4 cup All-purpose Flour
• 2-1/2 cups Whole Milk
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (optional)
• 2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
• 1 pound Cheese, Grated
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste
• 1/2 teaspoon Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
• 1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
• Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Adapted from Pioneer Woman