Healthy Spinach Dip

This is one of my all time favorite dips. It is super healthy and has a ton of flavor. Like most women, I found out from my doctor that I had pretty low iron and so began my search for a tasty spinach dish I would enjoy eating. I tweaked a few spinach dip recipes to make it healthier. You can also vary the ingredients to your liking as well (i.e. add more cream cheese for a creamier dip, use more garlic for a sharper taste, etc)

Recipe:

1 package frozen chopped spinach

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tsp minced onion

1 1/2 tsp chopped basil

1/2 tbs butter

1 tbs chopped parsley

1 tbs lemon juice

2 oz fat free cream cheese

1/4 cup of shredded Italian cheese

1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese

Cook and drain spinach. Over medium heat, add butter and saute spinach for about a minute. Reduce heat to medium low and add remaining ingredients. Heat and stir until all cheese has melted and the dip is at a creamy consistency. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. I like to serve this with baked tortilla chips.

Jake and I are like 3 year olds when it comes to vegetables. If it doesn't taste good, it's just not happening. That's also why you will probably never find brussel sprouts on this blog.. I am all for being healthy and eating well so I do try to make all of our vegetable dishes taste awesome. Or when all else fails add cheese or a healthy dose of Ranch :)

Jake's Take: (will update soon, but I know he likes this dip and appreciates that it is tasty and healthy at the same time. He requests it at least once a week :)  )

This may be the last post of 2010 since Jake and I are off to PA to hit the slopes to ring in the New Year!

12/29/10 Run

Well today was my first post Christmas run. So far this winter I have been going to the gym to run on the treadmill. While I hate the bordem of running on the treadmill, it beats running in windy cold weather any day. Today was different. A high of 47 degrees got me running outside for the first time since Thanksgiving. Yay! Running outside gave me the motivation to get through what might have otherwise been a sucky run.

Jake gave me a Nike Pulse last year and I have taken it out of storage to track my running for training for the 10K. Hopefully I can track my progress with it.

Here is what I ran today:
Miles: 2.3
Time: 21:33

That puts me at about 9:37 for each mile. Hopefully I can bring this time down.

Cheddar Bacon Scones

These scones are a meal in themselves and are great to grab on the go. I mean how can you go wrong with bacon and cheese?

Oh yumm.. you can make these a day or two in advance and are a great addition to a brunch.

Recipe: (adapted from The Pastry Queen)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbs baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp black pepper

1 stick chilled, unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

4 green unions, thinly sliced

10 slices of bacon, diced and cooked with fat drained

3/4 - 1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 egg

2 tbs water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix first 4 ingredients together. Add butter cubes and mix with a mixer on low speed until mixture is has butter flour bits the size of peas. Add cheese and mix until blended. Add bacon, green onion slices, and 3/4 cup buttermilk. Add 1 tbs of buttermilk if mixture is still too dry and repeat until dough can be formed into ball. Place dough ball on floured surface and roll out until it is 1/2 thick. Cut dough into 10 wedges and place on ungreased baking sheet. Combine water and egg and brush each scone with the egg wash. Bake 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Jake's Take: Thought they were very filling and liked tasting the bacon in every bite. Suggested adding some more cheese on the top. Yumm..

Not Quite Red, Red Velvet Cake

I attempted to make red velvet cake for Christmas dinner this year. You can see the results..

So close to red but not quite! Eh, I tried... Thankfully the cake tasted awesome.

I found this recipe on on the Smitten Kitchen blog (http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/09/red-velvet-cake/).

The blog has some helpful pointers on making the cake more red. Next time I make this cake, I will use less cocoa powder and that should do the trick. I also topped mine with crushed candy canes to make it more festive. The cake is really delicious and I would recommend it!

Recipe and notes from http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/09/red-velvet-cake/

Yield: 3 cake layers

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (not Dutch process)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups canola oil
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) red food coloring or 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place teaspoon of butter in each of 3 round 9-inch layer cake pans and place pans in oven for a few minutes until butter melts. Remove pans from oven, brush interior bottom and sides of each with butter and line bottoms with parchment.

2. Whisk cake flour, cocoa and salt in a bowl.

3. Place oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer and beat at medium speed until well-blended. Beat in eggs one at a time. With machine on low, very slowly add red food coloring. (Take care: it may splash.) Add vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in two batches. Scrape down bowl and beat just long enough to combine.

4. Place baking soda in a small dish, stir in vinegar and add to batter with machine running. Beat for 10 seconds.

5. Divide batter among pans, place in oven and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pans 20 minutes. Then remove from pans, flip layers over and peel off parchment. Cool completely before frosting.

Cupcake variation: Since this has been published, many readers have written in to express that it adapts well to cupcakes. The yield is approximately 35 cupcakes, with the liners filled only 3/4 of the way, and the baking time should be between 20 to 25 minutes, but check in on them 2/3 of the way through in case your oven gets the job done faster.

Cocoa Notes

• Some red velvet cakes have no cocoa, others have up to half a cup. The less cocoa, the brighter the red, and the less food dye is needed to give it the desired hue. This cake has more cocoa and quite a bit of red dye, but as you cans see from the picture, it is a real stand-out red. Feel free to use less, but make sure you dissolve it in 6 tablespoons of water to compensate for any moisture lost.
• Dutch versus Non-Dutched cocoa: This recipe uses baking soda, so it calls for non-Dutch-Processed cocoa. The reason is that Dutch-Process cocoa is neutral and will not react with baking soda, so it can only be used in 1) recipes with baking powder or 2) recipes with enough other acidic ingredients that will compensate for the lack of acidity. However, you’ll notice that this recipe has both vinegar and buttermilk in it, or quite a bit of acidity, leading me to wonder if either kind of cocoa could be used with success. I had non-Dutch on hand, so I used it, but if you only have Dutch and try this recipe, let us know if it works. Personally, I prefer the Dutched stuff because it usually is of a higher quality with a more delicate chocolate flavor.

Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from several sources

Makes 6 cups

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter room temperature
3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl. With a handheld electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat, on low speed to combine. If too soft, chill until slightly stiff, about 10 minutes, before using.

Icing Notes:

• Technique: Cake decorators will always tell you to ice a cake in two batches, first a “crumb layer” and then the more decorative one. Though I rarely bother, in this cake in particular, with its dark hue barely disguised by a thin layer of frosting, it is especially helpful. To do this, place a small amount of frosting on the cake and spread it over the entire surface that will be iced, thereby anchoring wayward crumbs in place so that they will not mess up the final product. A few minutes in the freezer or longer in the fridge will firm this up so that you have an ideal surface to build the real layer of frosting upon.
• Quantity: The recipe here creates an amount of frosting that allows for a thin coat between and over the cake layers. I found it to have the ideal cake-to-frosting balance for this recipe. However, you might want to double the recipe if you prefer a more decadent, padded frosting layer.

Jake's Take: Thought the cake was good and moist. He also likes a more cream cheese heavy frosting which I do too. He liked the crushed candy canes on top and would like them to cover the sides of the cake as well. Note: The crushed candy canes need to be almost in powder form since you don't want anyone biting down on a big piece and hurting a tooth.

Mint Chocolate Cookies

Ever since Jake saw a picture of some green mint cookies on the back of my cooking magazine, he made me swear to him that I'd make them for Christmas.

These cookies are really good and their green color makes them festive for Christmas or St. Patty's Day. You can also add some chocolate chips if you need a better chocolate fix. They would also work well as an ice cream sandwich using chocolate ice cream.  

Recipe:

1 package of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix along with ingredients to make them

3 tbs mint extract

Few drops of green food coloring

1 package of Andy's Creme De Menthe chocolate mints

Prepare sugar cookies as directed. Chop Andy's mints into small pieces. Add mints, extract, and as much food coloring as desired to sugar cookie dough. Mix and form small balls to place on cooking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 9-11 minutes. Makes about 16 good sized cookies.

Jake's Take: Jake loved these cookies and suggested making a "cookie sandwich" with 3 of them... I however I wouldn't recomend this unless you're prepared for a sugar coma. This recipe is great for people that love mint.

Friends With Good Food

My friend Emily recently hosted a holiday girls night while everyone was home in Richmond. Along with lots of wine and laughs, there was also some great food. Below are two posts from Emily and Ann who made dinner and dessert for the night. I love getting and sharing recipes so hopefully these posts will happen more often.

Emily's Peanut Chicken Noodles

Thanks to Emily for making such a great dinner! This dish makes a great dinner since it has a lot of flavor but is still pretty healthy.

Sorry for the bad picture quality! My real camera was MIA for this meal..

Emily's Recipe:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter
2 T soy sauce
2 t minced garlic
1 1/2 t chile-garlic sauce, or to taste

1 t minced fresh ginger
8 oz whole wheat spaghetti (i used a whole 13 oz box and the ratio still seemed okay...up to you- more for leftovers!)
12 oz bag fresh or frozen vegetable medley, such as carrots, broccoli, snow peas, etc.

Put a large pot of water on to boil for pasta.
Meanwhile, place chicken in a skillet or saucepan and add enough water to cover; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until cooked through, 10-12 minutes. Transfer chicken to cutting board. When cool enough to handle, shred into bite size strips.
Whisk peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, chile-garlic sauce and ginger in a large bowl.
Cook pasta in boiling water until not quite tender, about 1 minute less than specified in package directions. Add vegetables and cook until both pasta and vegetables are just tender, 2 minutes more. Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid. Rinse pasta and vegetables with cool water to refresh. Stir reserved cooking liquid into peanut sauce, then add pasta, vegetables, and chicken. Toss well to coat.
Serve warm or chilled.
Makes 6 servings, 1 1/2 cups each

Ann's Cake Cookies

Thanks to Ann for making these delicious cookies! These cookies are tasty and pretty easy to make. Slightly crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Yumms...

Sorry for the bad picture quality (forgot my camera so my cell phone had to make due).

Ann's Recipe:

1 box of devil's food cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
Powdered sugar

Hershey Kisses

Mix the cake mix, egg, and oil together.
Roll into small balls (smaller than you'd think).
Roll each ball in powdered sugar before you put it on the pan.

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 then place a Hershey kiss in middle. Ann used chocolate, but you can use caramel, mint, or peanut butter! Yields about 25-30 cookies.

You can use the same recipe with funfetti cake mix, and that make delicious cookies too.

Special Dinners With Free Food

Since I started this blog right before the holiday madness encored, I'm worried I might not be able to update it as much as I would like in the next week or so. Jake and I are headed home to Richmond for Christmas celebrations tomorrow afternoon where luckily both our families live less then a few miles apart! We met at Virginia Tech and had no idea we lived so close to each other.

Anyways, I wanted to try to squeeze in one more post before we left. My previous job as a political media buyer and planner had some awesome perks - one of which was my clients sending me some great cuts of fillet mignon. Jake was having a tough Monday so I decided to whip up his all time favorite dinner which, lucky for me and my wallet, was fillet mignon with roasted asparagus.

This dinner was easy and quick to make, yet tasted very elegant. Needless to say, Jake's Monday got better.

Recipe:

2 Fillet Mignons

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Powder

2 Tbs Butter

1/2 Tbs of Chives

1/2 Tbs of Parsley

1 pound Asparagus

After the fillets were defrosted and dried, I rubbed them with some olive oil and seasoned both sides with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I then seared them in a pan over medium heat to brown the top and bottom. They were finished off in the oven at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes.

While they baked, I made a quick herb butter. I took 2 tbs of room temperature butter and mixed it with garlic powder, salt, pepper, chives, and parsley.

Once the fillets are removed from oven, plate and serve with a scoop of herb butter on top.

As for the sides, I made roasted asparagus with hollandase sauce and mashed potatoes. For the roasted asparagus, I tossed them in olive oil, arranged them on a baking sheet, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Broil them for 15 minutes or until they look crisp.

Not going to lie, I used packaged mashed potatoes and a mix for the hollandaise sauce..  Don't judge me.

Jake's Take: Loved this meal and thought he was being treated to a restaurant night. What man doesn't love meat and potatoes?? Thought the herb butter gave the meat a very luxurious taste. He also ate my left overs which I still have mixed feelings about...

Holiday Apps, Drinks, & General Merriness

Jake and I recently had a Holiday Party which ended with a lot of empty liquor bottles in our house and appetizer plates with crumbs too small for a mouse... Sorry, we just finished watching the Grinch..

On the list for appetizers were Chocolate Bacon Bites (recipe in previous post), Angel Cinnamon Wings, Raspberry Sugar Cookies, Baked Brie, and Sticky Delicious Ham Sandwiches.

I'm going to start off with my all time favorite appetizer, the Sticky Delicious Ham Sandwiches. Let's just say this blog was very close to being called Sticky Delicious Ham Sandwiches & Other Life Adventures...

Let's take a look at these bad boys:

Um yummm... I promise these will be a hit at any party and the recipe is pretty easy.

Recipe:

24 bite size potato party rolls

1 package Swiss cheese

1 package sliced ham

1 1/2 sticks of butter

4 tbs brown sugar

2 tbs spicy mustard

2 tbs Worcestershire sause

Poppy seeds

Build mini ham and swiss sandwiches and place in a greased baking dish. Bring butter, brown sugar, mustard and Worcestershire sause to a boil. Pour entire mixture over ham sandwiches making sure each one is covered. Sprinkle poppy seeds over sandwiches. Cover in foil and refrigerate over night so that sandwiches can marinate in the delicious sticky sauce. Leave covered and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Take cover off and continue to bake at 325 degrees for another 10 minutes.

Once the sandwiches have cooled, transfer to serving plate. These can be made up to a day in advance and stored in a zip lock bag.

Jake's Take: Angered that he had to share them with our party guests..

Raspberry Sugar Cookies

My sister and I perfected these cookies last Christmas and there's really nothing not to love about them. I use a packaged cookie mix because I have issues making cookies from scratch along with pancakes.. don't ask..

Recipe:

1 package Pillsbury Sugar Cookie mix along with the ingredients it requires

Raspberry jam

1 1/2 cups powdered Sugar

3 tbs lemon juice

2 tsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Make sugar cookie mix according to instructions on package. Form dough into log and wrap in parchment paper. Place in freezer for 15 minutes. For raspberry cookie filling, take about 1/2 cup raspberry jam and mix in 1 tbs powdered sugar and set aside.  Once cookie dough has hardened, cut the log into 1/2 inch rounds. Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use your thumb and fingers to create a small well in each cookie to hold raspberry mixture. Make sure there is a good amount of dough between the bottom of your well and the baking sheet so that raspberry mixture doesn't go through when baked. Spoon small amount of raspberry mixture into each cookie well and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden. For lemon glaze put remaining powdered sugar in bowl and slowly mix in lemon juice. Use as much lemon juice as you like to get the glaze consistency you prefer. Mix in lemon zest and set aside. Once cookies have completely cooled (if not completely cooled, the raspberry center may fall out), remove from cookie sheet and place on cooling rack. Use a fork to drizzle lemon glaze of cookies and enjoy! You should be able to get about 20 cookies out of this recipe depending on size.

Jake's Take: Thinks the softer the better regarding a lower baking time. These cookies will be more fragile of course but may be worth it since they will literally melt in your mouth. Sometimes messy cookies are the best cookies.

Cinnamon Angel Wings

These are light and crispy cookies which are perfect for munching on. They aren't too sweet and don't feel too heavy like most Christmas cookies do. I might try to incorporate some fruit/jam in these next time since they have a tendency to be dry. I'm sure the use of apple butter or jam would be delicious.

Recipe:

1 sheet of puff pastry thawed out

Cinnamon

Sugar

1 egg beaten with splash of water

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Lay thawed out puff pastry on cutting board and brush lightly with egg wash. Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle in thin layer over pastry. Roll pastry towards center from opposite ends until touching in the middle. Cut 1/2 inch rounds from log shaped rolled pastry. If the dough becomes too soft you can put it in the freezer for 10 minutes or until hard. Place rounds on parchment paper covered baking pan. Brush tops of rounds with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Jake's Take: Thought they were a little dry and suggested having something like whipped cream for dipping.

Baked Brie

This dish is easy to make and is a good alternative to your basic cheese and cracker plate. This was a big crowd pleaser and really dresses up an appetizer spread. The combo of cheese, nuts, and fuit is always tasty. Next time I make this I will be sure to get a picture of the ooy gooy inside :)

Recipe:

One round of brie

One sheet of puff pastry

Apricot jam (or cranberry jam if you want to be super festive)

1/2 cup walnuts

2 tbs butter

3 tbs brown sugar

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Bring butter, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper to a slight boil. Add walnuts and bring mixture to a simmer. Stir until nuts are coated in mixture and remove from heat. Roll out thawed puff pastry until pliable. Place half of the cooled nut mixture in center of pastry. Spread a few tablespoons of apricot jam on top of brie. Place the brie on top of the nut mixture with the apricot jam side down. Fold the puff pastry around the brie and place seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make a slit in the top of the pastry and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. When pastry has cooled slightly, top with more apricot jam and the remaining nuts.

Jake's Take: Honestly, Jake doesn't quite remember the brie. He did love the nuts though. (I think the multiple Christmas shooters may have had something to do with this.)

Now on to the drink portion of this post. We have a bar area set up in our apartment which Jake has claimed as his "man nook". Before the party, we found some cool holiday shooters for him to make for our guests. These included candy cane, gingerbread, apple pie, and chocolate cake shooter.

Candy Cane Shooter

It looks cool when poured correctly but it tastes like cough medicine unfortunately...

Grenadine

Peppermint Schnapps (Clear)

Cream Dementhe (Green)

Add to shot glasses in the order listed above in equal proportions. In order to get the layered effect, use the back of a spoon and place the tip of it on the highest point of the previous liquid added. Slowly pour in addition liquor and repeat for layers.

Jake's Take: While it was good learning how to layer shots, there was nothing he could do to make the cherry and mint combo not taste like NyQuil.

Gingerbread Shooters

Butterscotch schnapps 

Goldschlager

Vodka

Irish Cream

Combine equal parts and enjoy! This one did in fact taste like Christmas in your mouth :)

Jake's Take: Taste's like gingerbread for sure. Might experiment in the future by adding a sprinkle of cinnamon or ginger.

Apple Pie Shooters

Vodka

Apple juice

Whipped Cream

Cinnamon

Combine equal parts vodka and apple juice. Top shots with whipped cream and cinnamon. These go down easy to say the least. Very tasty and who doesn't love apple pie?

Jake's Take: Easy to make but the fact the presentation is awesome it will definitely make it a classic winter time shot.

Chocolate Cake Shooters

Vodka

Frangelico

These babys only have two ingredients but I swear they taste exactly like dark chocolate cake!
Yumm... Jake dipped the glasses in lemon juice and rimmed them in sugar to add some sweetness as well. Add equal parts of both and you're welcome :)

Jake's Take: Definitely a lady pleaser but you can go stronger on the vodka depending on the crowd. If you're among friends, for added effect, he suggests having some sugar to put on your finger to lick afterwards.

And finally for some general merriness!

Our gingerbread town! We won't point out which side I did and which side Jake did...

Phew! That was a long post. In the future I'll only be outlining one or two recipes at a time.

Chocolate Bacon Bites and Intro

Chocolate Bacon Bites

What could make delicious food even more delicious? A good ol' chocolate smothering of course. That's exactly what came to mind when I made these little wonders. Not only are they interesting and different, they are a tasty crowd pleaser. One of my biggest goals for this blog is to hopefully find and share more of these intriguing recipes and ideas as this blog grows.

Recipe:

16 slices thick cut bacon

2 tablespoons brown sugar

8 oz milk chocolate

1/4 cup of chopped nuts

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Once you cut your bacon into bite sized peices, line the bacon on parchment paper and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until crisp. Melt milk chocolate in microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and repeat until chocolate is completely melted. Dip crisp and fully cooled bacon in melted milk chocolate and place on cooking rack. After all pieces have been dipped, sprinkle chopped nuts over them. Once the chocolate is fully set and cooled, transfer to serving plate. Makes about 48 pieces depending on size.

Now that we have that wonderfulness out of the way, I'll tell you a little about myself.

My husband Jake and I live in Arlington, VA. We were recently wed in May of 2010 and have successfully made it through 7 happy months of married life :) Whether he knows it or not, Jake is my expert taste tester and has and enjoyed the good creations and made it through the bad... (we won't talk about the disputed food sickness that he may or may not have gotten one time). I know cooking as a couple is a lot like marriage. There is a lot of compromise and communication that must go on in order to build mutually agreed on meals and trust in one another to try new things. Enough about that, let's give Jake a quick shout out.

Woot woot! I can hopefully get some feedback out of him about my food creations that I will share with you all. As for the Chocolate Bacon Bites..

Jake's Take : Hesitant at first but after trying them had a hard time remembering why chocolate and bacon wouldn't be "kick ass".  

I hope to update this blog a few times a week and share new and traditional recipes. I may also blog about some exciting life events along the way ;)