homemade, low fat, no flour or sugar ice-cream: mashed bananas!

I have an addiction: chocolate ridden and sugar filled fake ice-cream. During the winter I manage to contain myself but when it's 100 degrees outside and we don't have central air??! I eat a massive bowl at least once a day. Well I've found a new best friend: frozen, mashed bananas! I saw this concoction pop up on facebook, blogs and pinterest before I believed that it MIGHT actually taste ok:P

Take a frozen banana, peel it, chop it, stick it into a food processor. Blend it, stirring occasionally and then enjoy. If the banana flavor bothers you try blending in peanut butter, melted chocolate, cocoa, baking chips or jam. OHLALA!

If you eat it really fast and don't think about it too hard it almost tastes like soft serve ice-cream and if you freeze it like hard ice-cream.

Here's the peanut butter hard ice-cream version:

Banoffee Pie

I've had some requests for this recipe. This isn't the official way to do it but it's how a lovely wee scottish lady made it for me. The original recipe calls for a vanilla crust- pshaw- everything's better with chocolate!

Banoffee Pie


First off you gotta make the dulce de leche. I'll tell you the way I do it and if it scares you google other ways to do it that might be- safer!

1 can of sweetened condensed milk, sill in the can, with the label removed, submerged in water in the crockpot on low for 10 hours. I usually put in 3 at a time and leave it over night. The dulce de leche keeps for a long time in the fridge.

1 store bought chocolate oreo pie crust. You could make it- just every time I try making it, it um flops. So I cheat.

Slice 1-2 bananas over the bottom of the crust.

Spread the dulce de leche over the bananas.

Whip up 1/2 pint of whipping cream and spread over the dulce de leche. Then decorate with something to cover up the nasty spoon marks left on the whipping cream:) I used toffee bits.

Ta da!! Most amazing desert EVER!

Boneless Wings with Honey BBQ wing sauce

The recipe for these came from blogchef.net and they are amazing. Seriously- I will never spend money on buying them at a restaurant again! Below is how we modified them.

Boneless Wings
Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” chunks)
Oil (for deep frying)
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (use chile powder if your worried about too much heat)
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon paprika
1 egg
2/3 cup milk

Cooking Instructions:
Step 1: Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees. In a large bowl combine flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. In a small bowl whisk together egg and milk. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mixture, and then roll in the flour mixture. Repeat so that each piece of chicken is double coated. Refrigerate the breaded chicken for 20 minutes.
Step 2: Fry chicken in the hot oil in batches until the outside is nicely browned and the juices run clear (about 6 minutes per batch). Drain on paper towels. Repeat until all of the chicken is gone.
Step 3: Mix fried chicken bits with your favorite wing sauce (more sauce recipes found here if you're not into honey bbq).

Honey BBQ Wing Sauce-
Ingredients:
3/4 cups ketchup
1/2 cup BBQ Sauce
1/3 cup white vinegar
1/8 cup molasses
1/8 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Cooking Instructions:
In a small saucepan over medium heat combine all of the ingredients. Stir until well combined and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes. Thinly coat hot boneless wings in hot sauce and enjoy!

suntea

1. Fill a large canning jar with water.
2. Stick in a tea bag (one as long as it is strong and cheap)
3. Put in sun for three hours.
4. Remove tea bag.
5. Place jar in fridge.
6. Enjoy with ice within a day or two! (You can add lemon, lime or mint leaves!)

pico de gallo: the best mexican salsa ever.

Doesn't that just look so yummy? That is how Aaron and I eat 3 tomatoes in one meal. Whenever I went to Mexico this was always my favorite salsa and when we first got married I tried making it but I never had exactly what I needed so I'd improvise, lemon instead of lime, dried cilantro instead of fresh, hot sauce instead of peppers. For some reason it was never has good. Well last month we went to a taco stand down the street from us and I was complaining to the owner why all Mexican joints charge EXTRA for this type of salsa. By the end of the conversation he was telling me how he makes it. He didn't give any amounts but you usually judge that by taste anyway so here's what I came up with.

Pico De Gallo
- 4 medium size roma tomatoes
- 1/2 a medium onion (I usually use 1/3 of a vidalia onion)
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (so that there's lots of green bits for every bite!)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- the juice of 2 limes (about 1/2 cup if you're cheating and using bottled juice)
- 1/4 cup orange juice (this is the "secret ingredient" that the taco stand guy suggested, I use it if I have it but plenty of Mexicans don't use it so whatever!)
- serano pepper to taste. I have jalapeno plants growing in my garden so I use them and they have less heat. Any hot pepper is good just add a little bit at a time or your husband will need tums. (Edited to add- take out the seeds from the peppers to be able to control the heat better!)

Chop the tomatoes and the onions up into little tiny squares (maybe about 1/4"x1/4"?). Chop the cilantro up so that it doesn't look like a plant in the salsa. I cut about an inch of hot pepper and then slice it into fine little sticks and then chop it. (Each piece ends up being about 1/16"x1/16"?) Dump everything into a bowl and mix. Chill and serve with taco chips, tacos, quesadillas or anything even remotely Mexican sounding. :)

Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars

My female in-laws are all awesome bakers (hehe).

Aaron is constantly saying, "can you make *blank* like mom/my sister makes?!". Fortunately they have this handy dandy little cookbook they made with a whole wack of family recipe's so I don't need to be calling them up constantly looking for recipe's. Because that's embarrassing. So Bec had made these. They. are. amazing. Like cheesecake/cookie for those of us who have a phobia for making cheesecake because it always flops.

I baked two pans of these over the weekend for some events and had at least one person ask for the recipe. In my books that means it goes up here. See- that don't happen all that often so it gets me rather excited.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Bars

-3/4 cup butter or marg., softened
-1 cup packed brown sugar
-1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1/2t. baking soda
-1/2t. salt
-11 oz. cream cheese
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 eggs
-1 t. vanilla extract
-1 jar red raspberry preserves
-1/3 cup slivered almonds

1. In a bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Combine the oats, flour, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Press 3/4 of the mixture into a greased 13x9 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes or until set and edges begin to brown.

2. Meanwhile in a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.

3. Spread cream cheese mixture over crust. Drop preserves by spoonfuls over cream cheese mixture; carefully spread evenly. Combine almonds and remaining oat mixture; sprinkle over preserves.

4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until set and edges are golden brown. Cool before cutting. Store in refrigerator.

TIPS: Of course I never do it the way it says to right! Make sure you soften the butter and cream cheese, it makes it so much more pleasant to mix. You can use any type of preserves in it. The ones Becca made she used half raspberries and half cranberries (like, for dipping turkey) and it was really good- kind of a mix of sweet and tart. I don't use the nuts because Aaron doesn't like nuts. And ta da!!! CREAM CHEESE GOODNESS!!!!

why you look at the label on canned goods....

So I have this recipe (I was given it printed out and have no idea who to credit for it) for creamy tomato soup that I've modified and tweaked so it isn't as much, "if I eat this I'll gain a trillion pounds in one sitting".

Creamy Basil Tomato Soup
-2 cans tomato soup
-equal amount (or as close as possible) of stewed tomatoes
-2 tomato cans worth of milk (or half 'n half)
-cream cheese (this is where I cut back- the original calls for 1 package, I use 2-4 Tbsp depending on how fat I feel)
-2 Tbsp butter (again- this is supposed to be a whole stick!)
-black pepper and garlic powder to taste
-2 Tbsp basil (or italian seasoning)

Dump all ingredients into soup pot and use your Cuisinart Immersion Hand Blender to mix it all. (Seriously- this is the best invention for creamed soups. You don't have to transfer the whole pot to a food processor and end up dumping half the soup on the floor.) Cook on med until hot. Do not boil. Serve with mozzarella cheese and ritz crackers.

So good. Promise me you'll look at the cans before you dump it into the pot. The last time I made this I only had one can of stewed tomatoes (which are necessary rather than plain diced tomatoes) so I figured I go half and half and use some plain diced tomatoes. I accidently grabbed the diced tomatoes with chilies in them that I use for making salsa. It was HOT. Oops. Aaron ate it like a man though.

scones and black tea

Finally- a baking adventure complete with pictures!!

I've eaten scones my whole life and have tried different recipes with varying degrees of success. My grandma always made the healthy version with raisons which weren't my favorite, because of the raisons. But when she made them with chocolate chips?! So good. Then a friend of mine's mom made these Irish scones which were amazing but I was never able to duplicate them even with a copy of the recipe. Frustrating.

A couple months ago I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. It's a pretty good moist scone and I've baked them with a variety of filling stuff. My favorites are cheese or craisins and orange zest. (I want to try using lemon zest and blueberries!)

Here's another recipe that I was recently pointed to, Orange Currant Scones on williams-sonoma.com. It's a very dry scone (think a cross between bread and pastry) that takes a lot of mixing. Of course I over cooked it but it was still really good! Perfect with layers of butter and jam and a good cup of black tea. The only change I made was using craisins instead of currants. [EDIT: I also didn't bother with the food processor- I just cut in the butter by hand. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!!!]

Fancy shmancy photo below:)

whip cream response

I am back home. Oh my is it nice. I have a new appreciation for when my sisters leave their husbands to come visit me! However I am so thankful that I was able to head north and see some of my extended family- although under sad circumstances.

So ya'll want to hear about Aaron's life? Mine's too boring? At least I don't give you play by plays of my laundry day. I could post a total burn of him but I can't. See, he washed dishes for me before I came home.

I actually have had more views on how to make home made microwave popcorn than Aaron got on his sew-sew post! I did get way less comments though. FYI- the post with the most views and most comments is our almost finished living room. I agree.

Aaron's fine with me sewing "junk and stuff" (even if he mocks me) and I love doing it. It feels more loving somehow when you give gifts that you've made. Haha- my mom sent us some home made perogies back when my sister came to visit. They were so good. They just take FOREVER to make and the store bought ones?! Disgusting. Back in Winnipeg there are some Ukrainian woman who make them and sell them. Those ones are all right. Aaron begs me to make them, "why can't you make perogies all day instead of sew?"

The reason Aaron beat the whip cream with a fork when my kitchen aid mixer is on the "counter" beside him???! He didn't want to dirty any extra dishes. Nice. This is what he needs:

homemade microwave popcorn

Did you even know that, that was possible??!

Homemade Microwave Popcorn
1. Put 1/2 cup of kernels in a brown paper bag.
2. Fold top down twice.
3. Put in microwave for 1.5-3 minutes (depending on your microwave).
4. Add toppings into bag (we used olive oil and garlic salt).
5. Shake bag.
6. Dump into pretty bowl.
7. Pig out!!

the best chocolate cookies ever

Earlier this week I had a craving for cookies. So I thought about it. I tried to convince myself I didn't want any. Then I tried to convince myself that Aaron needed a treat and that I wouldn't eat too many of them and that I could give some away to other deserving folk. So I made half a batch. I ate many of them. To top it all off I ate the last two which I was supposed to be saving for Aaron because I had eaten more than he had. I seriously needed them though. I think I was experiencing some catastrophic emotional moment. I think.

Anyway I made a batch of the best chocolate/peanut butter goodness recipe out there. Notice that it is the recipe that is the best and not the result. My baking leaves something to be desired but I enjoy it so much I keep trying. HAHA- even the flops contain enough sugar to make them desirable.

The friend I got the recipe from is an amazing baker and her version of these.... WOW. Here's a moment- ice cream pail full of these morsels of perfection. A number of hungry adults pretending to have a deep conversation while trying to subtly inhale as many of these cookies as possible without looking glutenous. I did not succeed. (I think the original recipe is from a Hershey's cookbook?)

Can you believe that I forgot about this recipe for a whole year?!?! This is the first time Aaron's even tasted these. Poor man. I don't think he was enraptured with them as I am though. I believe he thought them too rich. PSHAW. His favorites usually have some sort of fruit in them. FRUIT?! IN COOKIES?! Seriously? Weird.


The Best Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips EVER
(I don't know what they're really called)
1 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup cocoa
2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup peanut butter chips
1 cup chocolate chips (I only had white chips)

8-10 minutes at 350 degrees (I have a gas stove and it took about 12 minutes for soft cookies)

Moxie's Sweet Potato Fries Dip

I love the dip that Moxie's has with their sweet potato fries. I knew it was mayo based, and tried using just mayo but it didn't have the extra little kick. Well I did some searching, and my skills must be getting better, because I found a recipe that is almost like it!!! Apparently it's a curry dip. Who knew.

Found the recipe here if you want a look see.

Garlic Curry Aioli
1/4 cup mayo
2 small (or 1 large) garlic clove, mashed to a paste with salt, or use garlic powder
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Dash of black pepper
1 tsp curry power, or more to taste
1 dash cayenne pepper (I used chili powder)
Sea salt to taste (I used regular salt)

AMAZING. Aaron even liked it and he doesn't normally enjoy sweet potatoes. I might make more fries tonight. Although my numbers on the scale are going up again....

Oh- and sorry no pictures. I have determined that any pictures I take of food look gross and will not convince anyone to make said food. Besides- I wanna eat it. Now.

no kneading bread and turkey?!

I've been trying to try new recipe's as Aaron is getting bored of my present one week rotation (I'll admit it- so am I). Here's the bread recipe that I made last night, it's from his Grandma (I think) anyway, I got it from the family cookbook my sister-in-law made me and it seems like the same kind his Grandma makes.

Peasant Bread
-1 pkg active dry yeast
-2 cups warm water, divided
-4 cups all-purpose flour
-2 t. salt
-1 T. sugar
-1 T. butter or marg., melted
-1 T. poppy seeds (optional- I didn't have them so I used sesame seeds)

Dissolve yeast in one cup warm water. In large bowl, combine flour salt and sugar. Add the yeast mixture and remaining water; stir until combined. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about one hour. Stir dough down. Divide in half. Place each half in a greased 1 qt. round casserole or ovenproof bowl. (I didn't have two of them so I used one 1 qt casserole and one 1.5 qt glass bread pan.) Brush tops with butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Let rise in warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from pans; serve warm (!!!) if desired. Makes 2 loaves.

EDIT: If you are lazy (like some of Grandma's other relatives:P) skip the first step and go directly from the initial mixing to the loaf pans. Let rise 45 minutes and bake as directed only put a bowl of water in the oven with the loaves.

Apple/Cranberry Turkey Breast

I got this recipe from a "Companies Coming" Book. Slice two apples and lay in the bottom of a slow cooker, dump and spread a can of whole cranberries on top (I only had crushed), place thawed bone in turkey breast on top and rub with gravy browner. Cook on high for 4-4.5 hours or low for 8-9 hours. Serves 6. (I had looked on the internet and they suggest cooking for 1 hour on high and 7 on low. I did this but it was done sooner as per the meat thermometer.)

Anyway- I've never had turkey in the slow cooker before and it was so moist. I liked the taste but it was sweet, probably if you like cranberries with your turkey you'd like it and if you don't you won't!

No pictures. We were too busy eating. And the leftovers looked like- well- leftovers.

cookies vs fruit

This is why I've never been skinny. Would you rather eat

this

or this?

Yah. I picked the same one you did. (Peanut Butter cookies from the Betty Crocker Cookbook. So good.)

I've been trying to cook differently the past couple months, namely we eat more fruits and veggies. According to the Mayo Clinic food pyramid I should be eating at a minimum: 3 servings a day of fruit and 4 of vegetables. Right. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA......! And those serving sizes are enormous! So my day should look like this: 2 fruit at breakfast, 2 veggies at lunch, 2 veggies at supper and 1 fruit for snack. My day usually looks like this: 1 fruit at breakfast (I am in love with grapefruit), 1 veggie for lunch and 2 veggies at supper. It's not perfect but it is better. I'm noticing a tiny difference in how I feel.

On a side note: the mayo clinic triangle lets you have ONLY 75 CALORIES OF SWEETS A DAY!!!!!! I ignore that rule. Also the fat allowance?!?! I also ignore that one. I figure one diet for life change at a time is about all I can handle.

borscht and black bread

Don't you hate when you cook something and it's the biggest fail in the known universe? And isn't it even worse when it happens to be for company? First there's the case of the brown tough pork but that is still too embarrassing to talk about so instead I'll talk about C and T's last night here.

I made Ukrainian Red Borscht (similar to the version on allrecipes.com under the same name) and some Russian Black Bread. The Borscht turned out all right (T loved it, which for a 2 year old is quite a compliment) although Aaron says I messed up on some quantities. (I will admit that he makes it better than I.) But the bread failed. I found the recipe here and thought it would be so yummy just because of the random ingredients included in it (chocolate, coffee, vinegar...).

Not. Entirely my fault though. See I heated up the chocolate mixture to melt said chocolate at the same time that my yeast was bubbling away in the PERFECT temperature water. (The recipe said 105-115 degrees and our water heater is set to 110 degrees so, yah, perfect.) So I mix the wheaty stuff, pour in my hot chocolate mixture, pour in my perfectly temperatured yeast.... and the yeast dies. DUH. So I attempt to save the loaf and continue and nope. Loaf is rock hard and unedible. Nice. Poor C and T. We bought C ice cream later that night to attempt to make up for it. I think it worked.

I made the black bread again two nights later and it turned out a'ight!!! Here's picture proof:

What company came to see!

This is what company saw when the walked through the door (Sorry for the bad quality picture- it was taken after dark):

All in under 24 hours. Becca (Aaron's sister) came over Thursday night and helped (!) cleaning up all the dust, then we painted, and painted, and painted. We finished painting at 4 pm on Friday. Aaron and I then cleaned, hung fixtures, installed electrical covers and ran around like chickens with our heads chopped off (well- he was pretty calm and moving like molasses in January, I was the chicken).

Dinner was 35 minutes late and as I was setting it out on the table I realized. I forgot to cook. Noodles. Chicken and sauce needs noodles. Anyway they forgave me. I was too stressed to take pictures. I did take a picture of what was left of desert though! See Aaron and I had to dip into it again after company left to have with our coffee (WHY can I not lose weight?!?!). Banoffee pie. First time I ate it was at the T's in Scotland. Second time my mom tried to make it the sweetened condensed milk blew up all over the kitchen (you have to boil the milk in the tin for 4 hours and the pot boiled dry) so I never ate it that time. And third, voilà:

Chocolate, bananas, toffee, whipped cream and heath. Good stuff.