Baking + Birthday

Heyyyy! How was your Saturday?

Today I did a lot of baking for my Uncle Ozzie’s birthday party. I also ate some really good food and had a pretty tiring workout. I didn’t do any homework. Oh well!

Breakfast:

Grilled Cashini Sandwich on Double Cinnamon Swirl Bread

After breakfast I did some blog reading and then got to work.  I had a lot of cleaning to do in preparation for the birthday party.  I swear, cleaning the house lasts longer than the actual party!

Thankfully, once the cleaning was over, I had to do something much more enjoyable: BAKING!

I was the designated “Dessert Chef” because my family knows I am quite the baker.  (Can my head get any bigger?!)

The birthday boy requested a Funfetti cake.  I was so close to making it from boxed cake mix but then I came across Jenna‘s recipe for homemade Funfetti Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream. 

Instead of cupcakes, I doubled the recipe and made a layer cake with 2 8-inch round pans and baked at 350F for 30 minutes.

 I also made some Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies because he loved them so much last time I made them.

I couldn’t wait to dig in.  Talk about a test of self-control!

After the kitchen was cleaned (I make such a mess when I bake!)  I got out of the house and took Fluffy for a walk.  It was beautiful outside today!

70 degrees and sunny!  Spring is here!

Workout:

• 3 mile walk with Fluffy
• 15 min. Abs 101

After my workout, I was ravenous!  I made myself lunch right away.

Lunch:

Tomato, cucumber, avocado, mushroom, roasted pepper, Laughing Cow, and hummus sandwich on Rye

  

I forgot how much I loved avocado.  The sandwich was so good.  I think I’ll post a recipe soon, but I still have a bit of tweaking to do. 

Soon after lunch, the family started coming over.  We talked and caught up for a bit and then got ready for dinner. 

On the menu for tonight was:

• Mom’s Gumbo

• Make-Your-Own Pita Pizzas

• Salad

Can you see Fluffy?!

I decided to skip the gumbo tonight, but I had some pita pizza.  It was so good!

Dinner:

Salad and 1/2 pita pizza with onions, mushrooms, and olives

I made sure to keep dinner light, considering I wanted to make sure I saved enough room for dessert.  I couldn’t wait to dig into the cake!

“Happy Birthday to youuuu…”

Dessert:

Oh.My.Gosh.  The cake was so good!  Well worth the wait!  I got a bunch compliments on it – thanks Jenna!

A sweet end to a wonderful night.

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Questions of the Day:

1. How did you spend your Saturday?
2. What is your favorite cake flavor?

Have a great Sunday! 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

I’m always talking about my huge sweet tooth, so it comes as a shock to people when I admit that I am not a regular dessert eater.

Don’t get me wrong, I eat dessert sometimes, and when I do I make sure it’s worth it. 

If I had to choose between a  fruity sorbet and a double fudge cake, I would almost always go for the cake.   

Remember a few weeks ago when my Track buddy brought in cookie-topped brownies for Valentine’s Day?  Well, I finally found time to make remake them and I think they’re even better than the originals. 

Adapted from AllRecipes.com and VegFamily

“This vegan dessert is decadent, gooey, and delicious.  It’s a slice of chocolate bliss.”

Ingredients:

Brownies:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups organic sugar
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup canola oil
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cookies:

• ½ cup organic brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup organic granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• ¼ cup nondairy milk or water
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup vegan dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Brownies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour in water, vegetable oil and vanilla; mix until well blended. Spread evenly in a 9×13 inch baking pan.
3. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven.

Cookies:

1. Combine sugars, oil, nondairy milk, and tapioca flour in a mixing bowl. Use a strong fork and mix really well, about 2 minutes, until it looks like smooth caramel. There’s a chemical reaction when sugar and oil collides, so blend well. Mix in vanilla.
2.  Add 1 cup flour, the baking soda, and the salt. Mix well. Mix in rest of flour. Fold in chocolate chips. The dough will be a little stiff.  Flatten into sheets and place on top of the half-cooked brownie. 
3. Bake for 10-15 more minutes.  Let cool for 30 minutes, cut into squares and serve.

Yield:  Approximately 15 servings

 * * * * * *

This brownies are freaking amazing, if I do say so myself.

Philip and I both ate two…for a snack.  They’re that good.  Can you say sugar coma?

I know the recipe seems like a lot of work, but it’s worth it.  This is the richest brownie I’ve ever tasted! 

Mmmmmmm…

* * * * * *

Questions of the Day:

1. Do you eat dessert on a regular basis?
2. Are you a self-proclaimed chocoholic?

Have a wonderful (and chocolate-filled)week ahead! 

Seven Things Sunday

Does that post title sound familar?

I’m sure many of you have heard of the blog Peanut Butter and Jenny.  If you haven’t, then I give you full permission to click the link and spend a few hours minutes browsing through her wonderful blog. 

Okay, are you back?  A few weeks ago Jenny decided to start an installment on her blog called Seven Things Sunday, where she talks about 7 things from the past week.  So far, she’s done about 3 of them and I’ve loved all of them, I actually stalk her blog all Sunday to make sure I don’t miss one.  They are just some really awesome posts.

Today when I woke up, I felt the urge to blog but had no idea what to blog about.  Figuring that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I decided to be a copy-cat and do my own little version of Seven Things Sunday.

* * * * * *

1.  Favorite meal of the week:  My Mom’s homemade gumbo based on this recipe.

2.  Song:  “Club Can’t Handle Me” by Flo Rida (featuring David Guetta)

3.  Workout:  Walks with Fluffy!  She’s been loving the walks lately and we usually do about 2 miles, by the time we finish she’s pooped!

4.  Quote:  “Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness.” – Earl of Derby

(My Sensei has a poster with that quote and I felt like I was staring at it all day yesterday.)

5.  Purchase:  All-Natural Peach-Mango FRS Energy Drink

6.  Laugh:  You really had to be there to fully get the humor in this joke, but let’s see how well I can re-tell it.  My friend, Katie’s best guy friend, became homeschooled a few weeks ago.  It was also around the same time that she told Kelly and I that she liked him, so we made a joke and said that he became homeschooled because of that.  She laughed and then we started talking about something else.  A few weeks later, on the way home from Cotillion, Katie pointed out that the guy lives a few streets away from her.  Kelly and I cracked another joke and said “Uh oh, now he’s going to move!”  Again, we laughed and continued talking about something else.  Finally, 2 days ago Katie came to school and informed us that he actually did move! We were dying of laughter for 10 minutes straight.  We’re so lucky Katie has a sense of humor!

7.  Natural Occurence:  The 15 inches of snow is almost all melted!

* * * * * *

Well, that’s it.  I hope you enjoyed! 

Now I have to take some pictures of the Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies I made earlier.  They are so decadent! 

Here’s a sneak peek:

Mmmm.

Questions of the Day:

1. Did you laugh this week?  What did you laugh about?
2. When it comes time do choose desserts, do you “go big or go home” or try to stay on the lighter side?  Go big or go home!  I don’t have dessert that often, so when I do I make it worth it!

Have a great Sunday!

Birthday Cake Smoothie

Lately it seems like Blog World has been in a bit of a cake batter craze.

Cake Batter Pancakes

Cake Batter Oats

Cake Batter Crispy Treats

 Now I’d like to introduce another Cake Batter creation into the mix ↓

Oh yes, I went there.

I suppose my infatuation with cake batter started at a young age, probably the first time I tried Funfetti cake.  As I got older it evolved to Coldstone Creamery‘s Cake Batter ice cream.  And now, being the healthy food lovin’ chick that I am, I figured my love should be made a little bit healthier. 

Don’t worry though.  My creation tastes just as good, if not better than the original.

* * * * * *

A FFF Original ♥

Ingredients:

• 1 large banana cut into bite-sized pieces and frozen
• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
• ½ cup milk
• 3 tablespoons vanilla cake mix
• 5-6 ice cubes
• ~1 tablespoon sprinkles

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender, like a Magic Bullet, and blend for 1 minute or until smooth and creamy.  Pour into a frosty glass, top with even more sprinkles, and enjoy.

Serves:  1

* * * * * *

Now before I start talking about how much I loved this smoothie (which I did!) let me make some clarifications. 

At the beginning of this post I said that I made my love “healthier,”  I know this statement is bound to bring up some controversy considering cake mix has about 50 million ingredients, sprinkles are pure sugar, and Splenda is just bad.  Knowing  this, I still urge all of you to listen to me.

This creation is meant to be a healthy-ish alternative for the high-calorie, high-saturated fat, high-sugar creation that is cake, it is not meant to replace dinner.  Even though, I wouldn’t have a problem eating it every night for dinner!

Now that I’ve made that clear, let’s continue onto the part of this post where I tell you how tasty this is!

I decided to be greedy and only make one serving, thus preventing my family from getting even a sip of this creation.  Don’t judge.  When you make this smoothie you won’t want to share either.

Creamy, delicious, refreshing, and high in protein, this smoothie is just amazing.  It is also versatile!  I had mine for breakfast, but it could also act as a hearty snack or dessert. 

Oh and in case you were wondering, the sprinkles are totally necessary.  They make the shake.  ← Unintentional rhyme!

* * * * * *

Questions of the Day:

1. Do you say sprinkles or jimmies?   Sprinkles!  I always correct people who say jimmies.
2. Do you use boxed cake mixes sometimes?  I have to admit, I use them for 99.9% of the birthday cakes I make.

Hope you had a delicious Tuesday!

Fiber Gourmet Review

Two product reviews in one week!?  I must be boring you to death!  I’m so sorry, but they have to be done.  I promise I’ll post my Tropical Mango Bread recipe tomorrow to make up for it.

A month or so ago I received a package from the wonderful folks over at Fiber Gourmet.  It was chock full of goodies like crackers, brownies, and macaroni and cheese.  It was pretty much a carb-lover’s heaven!

According to the Fiber Gourmet website all of the treats have:

• 10x the fiber of their standard counterparts
• 33% fewer calories than the competition
• No artificial colors
• No artificial flavors
• No preservatives
• No gluten
• No guilt!

* * * * * *

Sounds impressive, eh?  Here’s what I thought about the Fiber Gourmet products.

Mac-mmm-cheese:  One night I made surprised my family and made this macaroni and cheese for dinner with the addition of steamed spinach and grilled chicken.  I told my parents I made it homemade and they were raving about it. (And believe me, they’re not afraid to share their opinions!)  When I finally told them that it was made from a box, they were shocked.  It was the pasta was so tender and the sauce was so creamy.  I think it could have used a little more cheese sauce, but I’m a cheese-a-holic, so it’s probably just me.

Lite Frosted Brownies:  Philip and I enjoyed these brownies a few weeks ago for an after dinner snack.  We thought they tasted a little funny, so we added a scoop of ice cream which made them taste a little better, but they were still just okay.  These were my least favorite of the Fiber Gourmet products.

Light Cheese Snacks:  These were delicious!  According to the package, they were supposed to taste similar to Cheez-Its and belive me, they did.  Crisp, cheesy, and crunchy.  They are the perfect things to cure a chip craving.

Light Wheat Snacks:  According to the package, these were supposed to taste similar to Wheat Thins, which the did for the most part.  I paired them with a Laughing Cow light cheese wedge and I’d definitely say that it made them taste 5x better.  Alone they tasted a little too cardboard-y.

Overall:  Overall, I’d have to say that Fiber Gourmet makes some great products.  They offer stellar nutrition and provide people with healthy swaps for some of their fat and preservative-laden counterparts.  My only negative comment is that I think they are lacking a little pizzazz.  Amp up the flavor!

Overall Grade:  B+

* * * * * *

Questions of the Day:

1. How do you meet your dietary fiber requirements?  I try to get most of my fiber from whole grains, fruits, and veggies, but fiber-enriched snacks like these help too!
2. Anything fun planned for this weekend?  What are you going to do?  I have my freshman Cotillion tomorrow night – I’m so excited.  I’m getting my hair done and everything!

Have a wonderful 3-day weekend!  (Well only Americans have a 3-day weekend, so I hope everyone else has a wonderful 2-day weekend as well!)