Comments Off on Oversharing Over The BEST Red Wine Sangria
I know I’m going to hate myself in 10, 20, 30+ years for saying this, but I feel OLD lately. Well, maybe not “old,” but I’ve only recently become aware that I’m an adult. Like a real, full-fledged adult. I agree that it seems wonky that I HAVEN’T realized this despite the usual tell-tale signs: graduating college, working full time, living with a boy, worrying about things like paying bills instead of what I’m going to do on Saturday night etc., but seriously, time…take it easy.
Despite my adulthood denial over the past several years, a few things slapped me in the face with reality lately. First off, a couple weeks ago I talked to a college student who is turning 21 next month and I said something along the lines of, “Oh man, live it up now. I wish I had drank more BEFORE I was 21. It was way more exciting.” First off, am I suddenly an old man reliving the good ol’ days? More importantly, Katie, let’s be real; you were never a big drinker, and still can hardly have 2 beers without getting all giggly and wobbly-legged. As a side note, this conversation is strangely reminiscent of 7-year-old me warning my 6-year-old neighbor to enjoy kindergarden while she could, because WHOA did they hit you hard in first grade.
I wanted to bake you guys a healthy blueberry snack this week.
As you might have guessed from the lengthy post title that mentions “cream cheese” twice, this is not it.
That healthy snack actually ended up in the garbage. I do plan on reworking the recipe, because I liked the idea of it (chewy banana oat blueberry bars), but I think this cake is better for this week, don’t you? Not that I have any reason to bake a cake; It isn’t anyone’s birthday, there aren’t any holidays this week, and I don’t have my own blueberry bush that provides an unlimited supply of fresh berries. Sometimes I just need to bake a cake, and Monday was one of those days.
Plain old Mondays are just so blah. Even once you get through the day (which is guaranteed to move like molasses) you still have 4 MORE DAYS until the weekend. To make the struggle easier to handle, I think every Monday should be deemed “Cake Monday.” Just think of how happy people would be. It would be like the year’s first 60-degree day in Minnesota, when everyone walks around smiling and greeting each other, with casual comments like “How about this day?” to strangers on the street (Note that Minnesotans may always be nice, but they’re not always friendly. You should have seen us during this year’s May 3rd blizzard).
And and and!!!…if every Monday was “Cake Monday” then we’d probably have leftover cake for the remainder of the week. See how I plan ahead? You’re welcome.
Although my love for this cake may seem unusual at first, since it doesn’t include chocolate, peanut butter, OR coconut, you need only to look at the amount of cream cheese and brown butter to understand my feelings.
You see, this cake batter starts with butter and cream cheese, both softened, and then whipped together until totally smooth and creamy. Then we add both white and light brown sugars, vanilla, a touch of cinnamon, and buttermilk. After folding in some cornstarch-coated blueberries, the cake bakes up all airy, light, and golden. As if that’s not enough yumminess for one cake, I added brown butter cream cheese frosting, which is wonderfully creamy, yet with a hint of caramel from the brown butter. The sprinkling of blueberries on top gives a lightly sweet and tart flavor, and highlights the blueberries hidden in the cake…and to be honest, they’re just pretty, and I like pretty.
Despite my love for outdoor dining, I shy away from the large-batch pasta salads that seem to always be part of the menu. I love the idea of a cold pasta salad, but they’re usually drenched in mayonnaise, and I just…can’t do mayonnaise. I don’t know if it’s because it includes raw eggs, or because of the strange jiggly consistency, or maybe a little bit of both (definitely a little bit of both…), but I avoid it at all costs.
I know many people dislike mayonnaise, but I’m particularly annoying about it. At work lunches I’ve been known to scrape off the inner-most layer of bread from my sandwich and remove any and all pieces of sandwich filling that have been in contact with the white stuff. This usually means that I end up eating bread crusts and a single cucumber for lunch. Worth it.
For my high school graduation party my poor mom had to call caterer after caterer in search of mayo AND meat-free pasta salad options. This reminds me that I probably owe her a 9-year-late apology. Whups.
Despite the fact that most pasta salads fall on the do-not-touch list because of mayonnaise (or “aioli” if we’re being fancy), I’m often tempted. I like carbs, I like creamy things, I like eating outside, and pasta salad usually involves all those things. Clearly the conclusion here is that I need to just make my own and stop whining.
sun-dried tomatoes, basil, garlic, tomato paste, Greek yogurt and olive oil blend together to create a thick, creamy, mayo-free sauce that clings the whole wheat shells. The pasta and sauce would be great on their own, but I added some Great Northern beans for protein and texture, red cabbage and onion for some crunch and color, feta for a bit of tang, and some tomatoes to complement the sun-dried tomato dressing. Even if you like those mayo-based salads, you need to give this simple and healthy version a try.
Well, here I am talking about coconut and chocolate again. I apparently can’tgetoverit. I mean really, how many ways are there to combine coconut and chocolate? I MUST discover them all, no matter how long it takes.
Hey, there’s that life goal I’ve been searching for. My college counselor would be so proud.
Speaking of choco-coconut combos, for Mother’s Day I made a coconut chocolate chip and cherry coffee cake. Since my mom always insists that I forego “anything weird” when I bake for her, the cake was full of butter, white flour, and oh-so-much sparkly granulated-sugar goodness.
I was going to remake my Mother’s Day recipe this week to share with all of yous, but instead decided to tweak it to fit into my everyday sweet snack preferences: more of a bread, less of a cake, more coconut flavor, a bit less sugar, and some whole wheat flour for a nutty hint and to make it just the teensiest, tiniest bit healthier…but not toooooo healthy, because you’ve probably noticed by now that one of my favorite places is that grey area between breakfast and dessert.
I wanted as much coconut flavor as possible in this bread, so I used coconut oil, coconut milk, and shredded coconut. Since coconut without chocolate is absolute nonsense, I had no choice but to add mini chocolate chips so that the chocolate flavor could blend with the coconut in every bite.
Simple to put together and packed with coconut flavor, this bread would be a perfect addition to any brunch spread…or you could be like me and bring it into work to share on a dreary Monday because 1) You get to pick at it throughout the work day whenever the craving hits, and 2) It will get gobbled up so fast during the day that it won’t linger on your kitchen counter, tempting you to eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner over the course of the week. Which, trust me, is a definite possibility.
Well hey there. I haven’t done a random Friday post in a while because I’ve been lazyforgetful super busy, but there were just too many things I wanted to share this week, so here you go!
Can you guys even handle how cute my nephew is? He’s 5 and LOVES to bake. Seriously loves it. Every time he’s at grandma and grandpa’s house he wants to make cookies with a “special secret ingredient,” which usually means a combination of white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips and/or sprinkles (smart kid). As you can see above, he was especially excited about the special secret peanut butter surprise in these cookies last week.
My childhood summer memories have blurred over the years, but one thing I remember clearly is the ice cream and hard shell that were always available in my parent’s kitchen. Waiting for that chocolate coating to harden may be the reason why I have even the slightest patience in my adult life. So, you can imagine that when I found this 2-ingredient Nutella hardshell recipe that I absolutely freaked out. Can it be true? I was recently given a free pint of my very favorite ice cream out of dumb luck, so I will have to find out.
This salad looks like summery perfection. Of course I would have to add 1/2 an avocado to every serving, because that’s usually how I convince myself to eat salads, but I’m loving the idea of a fresh cilantro dressing to kick off summer. My mom also gave me some of those pans for baking taco salad shells (yes, as seen on TV), so I think that combination will need to happen.
I recently told you all about my newfound love of spelt flour, so I should probably share the recipe that started it all. This recipe makes just two waffles, so it’s the perfect breakfast for one (which works out well, since The Beast refuses breakfast so frequently…what a nut). When I make them I swap the buckwheat flour for spelt (as Ashlae suggests in the post), use lowfat dairy milk because it’s what I usually have on hand, and add flaxseed meal instead of potato starch. OH and then I top them with peanut butter because, well…om nom nom.
A few weeks ago I had to share my go-to smoothie recipe with you because it makes me so darn happy every morning. I try to make my smoothies healthy, since they’re usually breakfast, but how about this for a hot weather dessert? Frosty coconut and chocolate heaven.
If you’ve read my post on Crispy Baked Cream Cheese Jalapeno Wontons, you know how I feel about the combination of jalapeño and cream cheese. I recently saw these Twice Baked Jalapeno Poppers from Naturally Ella and they have been consuming my thoughts ever since. Must make this weekend.
Why does Buzzfeed know my childhood so well? Especially #35. The Beast and I pretend we’re in elementary school gym class every time we fold sheets together. That sounds weird…perhaps I shouldn’t have admitted that…?
