Happy Independence Day

Happy Independence Day! I know it has been over a month since my last post, but I promise you I have a good excuse. Let me start at the very beginning. When I first decided to take on Bake No Prisoners, my idea was to create or take on recipes that had a focus on healthy, natural ingredients, instead of processed, high in fat components. But as I got started, I focused only on how my recipes tasted because I was afraid I would get poor feedback on my own creations or the ones I recreated in my kitchen. This led me down a slippery slope of using loads of butter, sugar, and oil, all of which are great in moderation, but that’s not what I was doing.  In fact, because I tried so many of my tasty creations, I packed on a few pounds these last few months, but I am proud to say I am down 17 of those evil, nasty pounds thanks in part to The Dukan Diet.

I also admit that I had a lot of research to do before I could just “create” my own recipes. I had to hone in on what flavors and foods went well together and develop the basic and very necessary skills of cooking and baking. I am still not there, so I have decided to take you on this journey with me. All week long I have been taking either cooking or baking recipes from various chefs, cookbooks, or magazines and trying them out…seeing what I liked, what worked, or what I did wrong and taking pictures of the final product, good or bad. I have also been writing down my current cooking/baking/life goals that I want to share with you and to help hold me accountable. Since I just turned 32(my husband will tell you I am 29), I have come up with 32 hopefully attainable goals to achieve before I turn 33. Check them out and then check out the delicious and not very healthy 4th of July cake my husband and I made together to celebrate our country! This is the last fattening recipe for awhile, I PROMISE!! (Special occasions excluded, of course)

32 while 32

Food/Blogging:

1. Make 3 types of bread (Sarabeth’s Bakery has a ton of various bread recipes and ideas).

2. Develop a tart crust as good as Paulette’s (The Whirling Whisk…great stuff!).

3. Use 5 ingredients that I have never worked with before—suggestions welcomed.

4. Post a new cooking/baking adventure once a week.

5. Take one recipe from every cookbook I have bought in the last year and recreate it in my kitchen to post on my blog.

6. Become more decorator savvy when it comes to desserts, cakes, and pies.

7. Create a homemade blackberry pie for my favorite FIL.

8. Make a birthday cake for my husband that looks like a cheeseburger. (That I will post on the 15th of July, so be on the lookout).

9. Hone in on my egg skills—make eggs Benedict, poached eggs, omelets, sunny side up, etc…

10. Hold Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner (your choice Mom) and finally learn how to make good gravy.

11. Try out 1 new restaurant a month and if it is good and write a review on it and post it on the blog.

12. Soups –not a big soup person, so I would like to make my Mom’s chicken soup, clam chowder, corn chowder, and lobster bisque.

13. Develop 5 new cupcake flavors.

 

Relationships:

14. Start my own Women’s Life Group at church.

15. Develop new friendships at my new school and with my 4th grade team.

16. Remember to send birthday cards to all my friends and family on time.

17. Monthly Girls Bunco/Poker night anyone?

18. Volunteer on a weekly, if not, bi-weekly basis – Sunday school, soup kitchens, etc.

19. Visit my FL home more often.

 

Educational/Random:

20. Reread all Harry Potter books just for fun.

21. Research 4th grade at PLP and work closely with my teaching mentor.

22. Really think about getting my Masters and put things in place for the following year.

23. Become more open minded to the movies/activities that my hubby is interested in.

24. Pay off my car.

Healthy Living:

25. Lose 20 more lbs.

26. Run a 5K and a 10K.

27. Go to the spa for a facial and a massage.

Travel and Entertainment:

28. See the Blue Man Group.

29. Go to another musical – Cats, Wicked, Rent… whatever!

30. Spend a few days at Ocracoke Island.

31. Go white water rafting and zip lining at the U.S. National White Water Center.

Reader’s Choice

32. I’m one goal short of 32, so I thought I’d add a reader’s choice item. Leave a comment here with something you’d like to see me do. Whether it’s a recipe to try or an activity or festival to go to, just let me know in the comments below. I will sit down and choose one from the comments within the next few weeks and I’ll include it in my one month update in August.

And as promised…

Americana Key Lime

courtesy of Secret Life of a Chef’s Wife

The only difference I made to this cake was I added 2- 2 1/2 tablespoons of key lime juice to the frosting to give it some zest, otherwise great job Elissa for this amazing cake idea!!

 

Bloggers Bake for Hope

While perusing through baking blogs this week, I stumbled upon this virtual bake sale that is coming up! Some of my favorite bloggers will be donating their time, money, and baked goods to support breast cancer research. This cause is very near and dear to my heart, as I have had several friends diagnosed with breast cancer in the past several years. All proceeds from the bake sale will be sent to the Massachusetts Komen for the Cure. I highly encourage you to check out this amazing fundraiser and bid on all the tasty treats being offered from Wednesday, May 4th to Friday, May 6th next week. I have my eye on chocolate M&M cookies from Beantown Baker!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

After a long week, Brian and I like to be a bit lazy and lackadaisical on Saturday mornings. Typically, I will get up around 8 or 8:30 and just relax with a cup of coffee checking out the different movies available on Netflix while Brian sleeps in. After a movie or two, I normally get up and make something hot and fresh to get Brian out of bed. Several times I have made muffin mixes that literally take about 5 minutes to prepare. Other times, I make waffles, pancakes, or even beignets with a homemade blackberry sauce.  This Saturday was nothing out of the ordinary, so after watching The Proposal (good movie) I got up, looked in the pantry, but found no easy, ready in 5 minutes, muffin mix.

So I pulled out my new cookbook, Sarabeth’s Bakery, that cakebatterandbowl.com had recommended a few months back . After flipping through the Muffins and More chapter, I decided I would try her pumpkin muffin recipe, but instead of raisins and sunflower seeds, I would add more spice and use chocolate chips! They were the perfect little treat for this particular Saturday morning because it was cold and dreary and felt more like Fall, than Spring!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins

adapted from Sarabeth’s Bakery

  • softened unsalted butter for the pan
  • 3 2/3 cups pastry flour, sifted
  • 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 stick of unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2 -inch cubes
  • 1 1/3 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten
  • One 15-ounce can pumpkin
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush the inside of 12 muffin cups with softened butter, then brush the top of the pan. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt together in a medium bowl. Beat the butter in another bowl until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually beat in the sugar, continue beating scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula, until the mixture is very light in color and texture, about 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the eggs.  Reduce the mixer to low speed and beat in the pumpkin. In thirds, beat in the flour mixture until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips. Bake for 10 minutes and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees. Continue to bake until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a tooth pick inserted into the muffin comes out clean, about 15 more minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Shrimp Etouffee

I am just in love with all things Cajun and so I was super excited to try Shrimp Etouffee for the very first time to celebrate Fat Tuesday a few weeks back. I went with a Paula Deen recipe I found because of her southern claim to fame. Her recipes always seem to take me back to when I was little and my Mom would cook homemade, southern comfort food using a ton of butter and sugar.

Because I decided to meet a few friends later that night for coffee, I ended up being short on time and didn’t allow the roux to fully brown, but it still tasted rich and delicious. Due to Brian’s allergy to onions, I decided to use onion powder instead of onions, but you can always put them in if you are a fan. The shrimp were cooked beautifully and were very succulent and spicy! Overall, my first trial run with etouffee was a success. Next time I anticipate using crawfish instead of shrimp. Maybe I will even go out on a limb and host a crawfish boil with etouffee, creole, and jambalaya for my upcoming birthday in June!

By the way…if you are looking for a fun Cajun place to dine at, then check out The Cajun Queen in Charlotte or Razoo’s in Concord. Both are very different, but have very tasty cajun options!

Enjoy!

Shrimp Etouffee

  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra flour, optional
  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion/onion powder
  • 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, more if desired
  • 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
  • 1/2 cup minced green onions, plus extra for garnish
  • 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
  • 2 to 3 dashes hot sauce
  • 1 (8-ounce) can clam juice
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • Salt (Cajun seasoning has salt already)
  • 2 pounds small or medium shrimp peeled and deveined (recommended: (31/35 size count)
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • Rice, optional
  • Diced green onions, for garnish

Directions:

Note: To make roux, use oil instead of butter, because butter burns

Make the roux, mix oil and flour in a large heavy saucepan over low heat. Whisk flour into the oil to form a paste. Continue cooking over low heat and whisk continuously, until the mixture turns a caramel color and gives off a nutty aroma, about 15 to 20 minutes. To the roux, add the onion, green pepper, celery, and garlic and cook over low heat about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are limp. Add the black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, Cajun seasoning, green onions, parsley, and hot sauce to taste. Add 1 can clam juice and the tomatoes with their juice, stir to blend. Add the salt, starting with 1 teaspoon, then add more if needed. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add shrimp and stir. It will take about 3 minutes for shrimp to cook, don’t overcook. Remove from heat. Add the butter and stir; the heat from the dish will melt the butter. Transfer the etouffee to a tureen, serving bowl, or if you prefer, over rice. Garnish with the green onions.

Palmier Cookie Banana Pudding

I am definitely not a banana person, so if there are bananas in the house, it is typically my husband who wants them there or I have picked them up to try to get some more fresh fruit into my diet. Either way, they tend to sit on the counter for days until they are brown and very ripe. This is exactly what happened to me a few weeks ago, so I decided to turn bananas into banana pudding! Now you can take your favorite banana pudding recipe and change the cookie like I did and it will give it a whole new flavor! I used a package of French Palmier Cookies I picked up at one of my favorite places to shop, World Market. They seemed crispy and wafer-like and the perfect substitute for the ordinary vanilla wafers I normally put in my banana pudding. They were drizzled with honey and were the perfect sweetness to my very ripe bananas. I could have eaten them straight out of the package if I hadn’t used them for my quick and easy banana pudding. I can tell you it didn’t last very long in my house! Now how’s that for your daily intake of fresh fruit!

Enjoy!

Palmier Cookie Banana Pudding

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 (5.1 oz.) package vanilla instant pudding mix or you can make your own
  • 1 package of French Palmier Cookies
  • 6 small to medium ripe bananas
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl and beat at low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes or until mixture is smooth and thick. Layer palmier cookies in a 2 1/2-quart baking dish. Slice 2 bananas and layer over cookies. Pour 1/3 of pudding over bananas. Repeat layers twice, ending with pudding. Arrange remaining cookies around edge of baking dish. Beat egg whites at high speed until foamy. Add 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves (2-4 minutes). Fold in vanilla extract. Spread meringue over pudding, sealing to edge of dish. Bake 325 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden.

Super Bowl Chili with “Packed” Cornbread

Go Pack Go! Whew! What a game that turned out to be. I know it has been 3 weeks since my last post, but life has been very busy! Girls on the Run has started back up for their Spring season, so I have been trying to get outside in this beautiful weather and run more frequently! I would like to be able to keep up with the 3rd-5th graders I coach every week! We are also seeing a lot of changes going on at our school, as well as our district, so I am trying to adjust and do the best I can…which leaves my “baby” food blog almost last on my enormous to do list. But I promise that you will see several new recipes popping up the next few weeks that you won’t want to miss!

But for now I give you a chili recipe I found in Food Network magazine that I spiced up a bit, along with a loaded corn bread recipe courtesy of HealthyFoodForLiving.com. This was the perfect hearty meal to celebrate the Packers winning the Super Bowl!

Enjoy!


Bean and Beef Chili

  • 2 to 4 tablespoons veg oil, plus more as needed
  • 3 lbs. boneless ground Angus, cut into 3/4 -inch pieces
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 large onions, chopped (I left these out and used a decent amount of onion powder due to my husband’s allergy to fresh onions)
  • 8 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/3 cup, plus 2 tablespoons of chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 28-oz can whole plum tomatoes, coarsely crushed with your hands
  • 1 3/4 cups beef broth (low sodium if you’d like)
  • 1/3 cup brewed espresso or strong coffee
  • 1 15-oz can of pinto beans
  • 1 15-oz can of kidney beans
  • shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and/or diced avocado, for topping

Directions:

Heat 1/2 tablespoon veg oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Pat the beef dry and season with salt and pepper. Brown in batches, about 4 minutes, adding more oil as needed. Transfer to plate. Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to the pot. Add the onions and garlic; cook, stirring, until golden, about 6 minutes. (If you are using onion powder, combine the next few steps together with the onion powder and garlic and meat. If you don’t, you could burn your garlic! )Add 1/3 cup chili powder, the oregano and tomato paste; stirring 30 seconds. Return the meat to the pot and stir in the tomatoes with their juices, broth, espresso and beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the beef is tender, about 2 hours. Stir the remaining 2 tablespoons chili powder into the chili. Divide among bowls and top with cheese, sour cream, and/or avocado.

Loaded Cornbread

Courtesy of healthyfoodforliving.com

Ingredients:

  • cooking spray
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup white whole wheat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
  • 1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk
  • 1 egg, lightly whisked
  • 2 Tbsp evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted and cooled
  • 1 cup fresh corn kernels (from about 2 ears… or can substitute defrosted frozen corn)
  • 1/2 cup grated 50% reduced fat jalapeno cheddar or pepper jack cheese
  • 1/2 serrano or jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and minced
  • 1/4 cup sliced scallions

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat an 8 x 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal through salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk through melted butter until well-mixed. Stir wet ingredients into the dry just until well-combined. Fold in fresh corn kernels, grated cheese, minced serrano chile, and sliced scallions. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean. Let sit for about 5 minutes before cutting into squares and serving. Can also be served at room temperature.

Plantain Muffins with Nutella Spread

When I had bought plantains at the market a week ago or so, I had every intention of using them in a Rick Bayless recipe. I had just picked up his book, “Mexican Everyday” and I was excited to try Grilled Red Chile Steak with Sweet Plantains. Because of my husband’s allergy to onions, we typically don’t have a lot of options when it comes to Mexican cuisine, so I was looking forward to bringing Mexican into my kitchen, minus the onions.  However my week was consumed with work, 3 doctor’s appointments, Life Group training, Life Group, and a long to do list for school. Needless to say, I didn’t have much time to cook and we ate out a lot.  At the end of my very long and busy week, I ended up using my now very black plantains for an easy muffin recipe that made 12 large fluffy muffins. To top it all off, I spread Nutella on the warm plantain muffin and it was like a banana and chocolate treat! Add a cup of hot tea and you have heaven in a snack!

Enjoy!

Plantain Muffins with Nutella Spread

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup whipping cream (milk can be substituted)
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 very ripe plantains, smashed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make sure your plantains are soft and ripe. Peel and thoroughly smash plantains in a small bowl. In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl beat the egg, milk and oil. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Fold in smashed plantains. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4  full and bake for 20-25 minutes. Makes one dozen muffins.

Vanilla, Peanut Butter and Oreo Mini-Cheesecakes

When I was asked if I would bring the “snack” to my latest book club meeting, I thought what could be better than creating mini-cheesecakes! Who doesn’t like to create mental images and dig deeper into comprehension while eating a creamy, decadent peanut butter cheesecake, especially when you find a golden Oreo at the bottom. (Not many people reading this will understand my educator lingo, but those who do will get a giggle out of it…Boteva).

To be honest, I had some inspiration with this recipe. I was perusing yet another Bostonian food blog to help with my book club snack dilemma and she had come up with a similar recipe using a few more healthier options. I choose to keep a few of her options and add a few of my own. With my recipe, I was able to make 2 dozen mini-cheesecakes in which I shared not only throughout the day with a few friends at work, but at my book club that followed! They were a huge hit! Even my principal was able to snag a few! Baking goodies for the bosses always seems to get in a few bonus points, right? :)

Enjoy!

Vanilla, Peanut Butter and Oreo Mini-Cheesecakes

Adapted from http://www.healthyfoodforliving.com

  • 24 Golden Oreo cookies
  • 8 oz neufchatel (1/3-less-fat) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 8 oz regular cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup white chocolate creamy peanut butter (Peanut Butter & Co. is the best)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt
  • pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 275degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each of 24 lined cups. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the neufchatel, cream cheese, and peanut butter at medium speed until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add in sugar and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla. Beat in one egg at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in yogurt and salt. Spoon batter evenly among the 24 lined cups, filling each almost to the top. With the back of a spoon, smooth out the top of each filled cup. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until filling is set, 22-24 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or up to overnight, before serving.

Goat Cheese Melon Salad

When I first discovered food blogs, I found this amazing Bostonian blogger who was hosting a cookbook give away for Thomas Keller. She had actually met Thomas Keller at a signing for Williams Sonoma and was giving one lucky reader a signed copy of Ad Hoc at Home. In order to qualify, you either had to write something on her post or tweet about the giveaway. I did both…several times. But to no avail, I did not win. Well, that didn’t stop me from going on to Amazon and buying up a copy for myself. I mean, if she had it, then I had to have it. :)

One of the first recipes I tried was a Mediterranean Melon Salad. This is a great summer lunch salad that you could make if you were short on time or if you wanted to impress someone with little effort. It has toasted pine nuts, feta, assorted small melons, like cantaloupe or watermelon, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and much more! It is also the perfect side to take to a lunch with the family!

So after church, I decided to make a variation of Thomas Keller’s Mediterranean Melon Salad to bring to my grandmother’s for lunch. In my salad, I used goat cheese, instead of feta, and left out the unnecessary olive oil. I also choose to use honey dew melon, in addition to cantaloupe. I also added the toasted pine nuts to give it some crunch! I would like to say that all went well and that there was no foodie blunder this week, but I am new at this and I thought I would share my mishaps with you on this recipe and how you can correct it, if you choose to make it yourself.

As you can see, I used a bit too much balsamic vinegar. So much in fact, that my honey dew melon is starting to have a brown tint to its normally light green coloring. So in the ingredient list below, I changed the number of tablespoons from 3 to 2. I also tossed the salad a bit too much, so be careful to toss lightly and even drizzle the balsamic vinegar around the edge of your bowl first and then toss. All in all, this is a very fun and tasty recipe that I will have again and again!

Goat Cheese Melon Salad

  • 1 cantaloupe melon
  • 1 honey dew melon
  • 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
  • 1/2 cup goat cheese
  • 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
  • 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toast pine nuts on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet for 7-8 minutes or until light golden brown. Let them cool to the side. Slice open both melons and scrape out the seeds. Using a melon baller, make melon balls out of both the cantaloupe and honey dew melons. In a big bowl, combine melon balls, toasted pine nuts, goat cheese, balsamic vinegar, and salt. Coat lightly and serve immediately.

Tilapia with Chili Cream Sauce

As each new year begins, I always try to make and stick to a few new year’s resolutions. Last year, I decided to apply and study for my National Board Certification in General Early Childhood. After 4 papers totaling 60 pages and a 6 question timed essay, I received notice a few months ago that I passed. I was extremely proud of myself and what I had accomplished. I also wanted to get back into running to get fit, so I became a Girls on the Run Coach at my school. I helped to promote healthy eating, as well as, physical fitness. At the end of the semester, I ran a 5K with my group of girls.

This year, I have a few new resolutions and one of them is creating this food blog. I love being in the kitchen and cooking with my husband, so why not take the time and share my experiences with other foodies.  My goal is to include a new recipe or experience once a week and to challenge myself in creating my own recipes to share like this spicy dish below.

Enjoy! Picture soon to follow!

Tilapia with Chili Cream Sauce

  • 1 lb. fresh or frozen Tilapia, 1/2 to 1 in. thick (I always go with wild caught fish)
  • 2 tablespoons cormeal
  • 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 3/4 cup fat-free half-and-half
  • 2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro
  • lime slices

Directions:

Thaw fish, if frozen. Rinse fish and pat dry. Cut into 4 serving-size portions. Stir together cornmeal, 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, and grated Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over both sides of fish. Lightly coat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add oil to skillet and heat over medium to medium-high heat. Add fish pieces and cook for 2-3 minutes per side or until fish flakes easily. Remove fish and keep warm.

Melt butter in the same skillet and stir in the flour, chipotle chili powder, salt, and cumin. Stir in the half-and-half and stir until thick and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. To serve, spoon sauce over fish and sprinkle with cilantro. Garnish with lime slices and serve with brown rice.