Savory Everything Muffins

Ingredients:
-1 TB sesame seeds
-1 TB poppy seeds
-1 TB minced onion
-1/2 TB granulated garlic
-hefty pinch of salt
-1.5 C flour (I used a 50/50 split, but would recommend decreasing the wheat flour by 1/4 C if you are going to do that too.  These were slightly dry, but I wanted to test it out)
-1 TB locally sourced honey
-1/3 C vegetable oil
-1/3 C milk (feel free to add a little more if batter looks too dry)
-1 jumbo egg (consider using a couple eggs if you typically buy large or medium)
-2 tsp baking powder

All of the ingredients should be mixed together and should form a very firm batter.  This batter will be drier than probably some of the other muffins you make as it is a denser muffin, but use your best judgement on adding extra liquid or reducing flour.  With the 50/50 split I used, I really wish I had taken out some of the wheat flour because my batter was a little drier than I would have preferred.  However, the muffins are still quite tasty and I love an excuse to slap some butter on a muffin, so I am really not complaining too much here.

Anyway this should make 6 regular sized muffins.  I baked mine at 350F for 20 minutes, and lowered the heat in the last 5 minutes to make sure the tops did not brown too much.  Also, if you want to mix the herbs and seeds together first and reserve some for topping the muffin, that is another option that may make them look a little more fancy if you are using these for a brunch or similar.

I am a big fan of tossing things into the kitchenaid and calling it a day.  So that is pretty much the system I used here.

I also think that a couple tablespoons of sour cream would moisten the batter a little and add a really good complimentary taste.

This may not be the last of these muffins, but I do think this is a good starting out point for anyone looking for a savory option in a typically sugar-dominated muffin assortment.

Happy crafting!

Beach Party Cookie Ideas

I think a lot of people I know could use a little sunshine right now.  It has been a pretty snowy winter here, and even though I am typically not a summer-lover (I burn far too easily) even I would be happy to trade my snow boots in for some flip flops.

...and mostly some kabobs on the grill.  Because it always come down to food with me.

Anyway, the cookies are decorated sugar cookies with beach balls, lighthouses, palm trees, star fish, etc.  You can make these yourself with your favorite roll-out recipe and a good batch of royal icing, or you can make life simple and get someone to make them for you.  Then, to add a little variety, there are star fish and sea shell white chocolate candies.

If you are a really elaborate soul, you could put a little oil flavoring in the white chocolate for coconut or orange or anything else that may make you think of the warmer time of year spent having a good time.

Regardless of whether you are having a party, or just want to pretend you are at a beach bash, a tasty box of treats is my personal favorite way to do it.

Happy crafting!

Roasted Stuffed Cubanelle Pepper: Zone Diet Friendly

Ingredients:
-1 Cubanelle pepper
-4 oz pulled pork, I used my Guinness Pork recipe here
-3/4 C onion, chopped
-Just under 3/4 C chopped green pepper (or red/multicolor for more fun!)
-1 tsp Worchestershire sauce
-Salt and pepper to taste

Put the cubanelle on a cookie sheet and roast at 400F for at least 15 minutes, turning every 5 to 7 minutes.

While it is roasting sautee the peppers and onions with the sauce and a little bit of water. Hit them with some salt and pepper.  Sautee until the onions start to turn translucent, reduce the heat and add your pork in just to let the flavors mingle.

Get the pepper out of the oven and let it cool for a few moments, and lower your oven to 350F.  Slice it down the center (not all the way through, just cut a slit). Scoop out the seeds from inside.

Stuff it with the filling and pop it back in the oven for another ten minutes or so.

Devour and enjoy!

I am so sorry that I am so flaky currently with my posting, but I am in the last few days of a huge school project!  I hope to return to normal soon.

Until then, happy sporadic crafting!

Guinness Pulled Pork in the Crockpot

Ingredients:
-Pork Roast (however much you need to fit in a normal crockpot, this is not rocket science)
-1 or 2 bottles of Guinness (need enough to come about halfway up or a little over the pork roast)
-1 C water
-2 TB butter
-1/2 of an onion (I used a yellow one) chopped
-1 tsp worchestershire sauce
-Salt and pepper to taste

So I typically buy normal sized pork roasts (tenderloins, whatever is typically $9 and a little bit larger than a Dachshund). And then I cut them into 4ths or 3rds and I use them for multiple meals.  So that gives you an idea of the size of cut I used with a half bottle of Guinness.  But I cannot stress to you enough, this is not a precise science, just wing it and enjoy.

So add all the ingredients to your crockpot and cook on low overnight. That's it.  That's all you have to do.  I mean ideally you should turn it once while it is cooking but if you don't it will still work just fine.  In the morning, shred all the pork up (I just use my tongs and pull it all apart in the crockpot) and then I like to let mine sit in the juices all day on the "keep warm" setting.

I have tried this made with various beers and I have to say that Guinness is hands down the way to go.  It was the richest flavor and really worked well with the other ingredients.

Happy crafting!

Easy-Cut Cakes for Events and Charities

This is a cake that my mom did for an event for the volunteer fire department.  The great thing about cakes like this is it tells people exactly where to cut, and everyone gets a rose.

Have you ever gone to an event and been a lover of icing and got the piece that just has base on it and no decorations? Don't you feel like you get shorted?

I do.  I love icing.  Pile it on, I want a sugar buzz by the time the night is over.

By putting rows of roses on, it tells people who may not have the most experience in cake cutting exactly what they need to do, and I know that if I was in that position I would really appreciate something like that.

These roses are red raspberry roses, which added to a chocolate cake makes for a tasty surprise.  It would definitely be overkill to make an entire cake raspberry icing, but a decently strong flavored rose of a fun extract like raspberry or strawberry can give you a taste of something different without making you want to gag.

I know I have been pretty flaky lately on getting things posted daily, and that may be the lesson of the 365 Day Craft Challenge this time around, making sure that you make time to do the things you love, without being obsessed or worried about missing a day.

No one is perfect.

And strangely enough, it is sometimes difficult for me to fit my social life, my graduate school life, my home life, and my craft challenge all into the same 24 hour period...who would have guessed ;).

Happy crafting!

My Paleo Valentine: Dark Chocolate Bacon Brownie Truffles

You will need:
-2 C shredded zucchini
-1 C applesauce, peanut butter, almond butter, or whatever you prefer to use.  I used my homemade bourbon apple butter, recipe here.
-1/3 C dark cocoa powder
-1/3 C locally sourced honey
-1 C almond meal
-1 Egg
-1/2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp vanilla or almond extract

Other
-Dark chocolate chips for melting and dipping
-Bacon or other desired toppings like walnuts
-2 TB chia seeds
-Up to 1/4C extra almond flour for truffle mixing

So these came about by a very fortunate series of obnoxious failures.  I have actually made zucchini brownies before.  They actually came out really good, but were a little on the dry side.  I figured they needed an egg.  So I based these off a combination of recipes and these came out way too moist! I really had my heart set on taking in some paleo treats to see if anyone noticed they were different (they did not notice) and so I was pondering what to do.  Rule #1, if dry cake can be mixed with moist icing to create a cake pop, wet brownies can be mixed with moisture-absorbing chia seeds and almond meal to make a truffle.

Anyway, mix the top list of ingredients together in your food processor.  Pour into a well greased 9x13 inch pan and bake for 25 minutes at 350F or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.  Allow them to cool, then scoop the brownies into a bowl.  They are going to be really really moist and you are going to question your sanity, but you are just going to have to trust me on this one that it works!

Mix the brownie stuff with the chia seeds in the lower list and up to 1/4 C almond meal to get them to a consistency where you can roll them into a ball in your hand and they will keep their shape.  You could also add in nuts or other things as you see fit.  If you do not think the mixture is sweet enough, add a little more honey and increase dry ingredients as necessary.  

I placed the brownie truffles on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and popped them in the freezer for about an hour. I wanted to make sure they were very well set.  You can leave them in longer if you like.  

Melt your chocolate, remove the truffles from the freezer and dip.  I dipped all mine first, then fried up my bacon, drizzled more chocolate on them to add the bacon and make it stick, and then drizzled a little more chocolate on that to make sure that they stuck.

Depending on what your home temperature is or where you are taking these, you may want to keep them in the fridge or a cooler, especially if they have to sit out a long time. Dark chocolate never seems to set as firm as the candy bark I use for other things (completely non paleo things of course) and that is not a bad thing as long as you are prepared.

These were a big hit at the office, and a lot of people commented on how rich the bites were and how chocolatey they tasted.  I was quite happy.  They even got the seal of approval from the paleo eaters I know.

I just like to experiment with things like this every now and then, and the right combination of brownie that is somewhere between the first batch and these would make these have an even better texture.  I am quite hopeful I can get to that point.  However, I think if I have learned anything in the 365 Day Craft Challenges it is that if at first something does not quite look right, try to make it something else.  I hate wasting ingredients, and these brownies just needed a little extra TLC to get them to the next level.

The ironic part is, I am not the biggest chocolate fan on the face of the earth.  But I did have someone tell me today that I have given them an even bigger appreciation for bacon.

And that, my friends, is truly what matters in life.

Happy crafting!

Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:
-Chicken breasts (I used 2 for 7 peppers)
-Salsa or equivalent ingredients
-7 poblano peppers (that is what would fit in my glass dish!)
-toppings such as guacamole, sour cream, or whatever else you prefer

To make salsa chicken, I put the 2 chicken breasts in my crockpot with about 1 C of water and 1.5 C of salsa or so, optionally a pat of butter or other fat.  Or, at least that is what I typically do.

I did not have salsa this time. Instead, I chopped 3 tomatoes, 1 small onion, 1 green bell pepper, and added 2 tsp fresh cilantro paste, salt and pepper, and a pinch of taco seasoning.  I had recently dried some serrano peppers, so I crushed up 1/4th of one of them as well to include.  I still added the water and let this cook overnight in my crockpot for 8 hours on low.

For the peppers, you will need to roast them first.  Preheat your oven to 400F and place the peppers on a metal baking sheet, preferably one with a rim.  Roast for 15 minutes, flipping the peppers halfway through to promote even roasting.

Pull them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes unless you just have a really good oven mitt that makes it easy to handle them.  Cut a slit down the center of the pepper and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.  You do not need to cut the stems off as they are quite cute.

Once all of the seeds are removed, stuff with chicken and top with more salsa.  I lowered my oven temperature since I transferred these to a glass baking dish and baked them at 350F for 12-15 more minutes or until all of the filling is nice and hot.  You could easily add cheese to this mixture if you were so bold.

I am on a bit of an anti-dairy kick at the moment, I really just have not been in a cheese mood lately.  And I wanted these to be paleo in honor of some friends of mine.

Top each with guacamole and enjoy! With a simple addition of eggs, these would be very simple to convert to a fun, tex-mex brex (or breakfast, if you prefer to not follow my trendy word usage there).

Happy crafting!

Zucchini and Roasted Pepper Cakes

Ingredients:
-3 zucchini, shredded
-1 red pepper, shredded
-1/2 small white onion, shredded
-1 egg
-1/4 C almond meal
-1 TB garlic cheese topper
-Salt and pepper to taste

Shred the vegetables and allow them to sit in a strainer for around 30 minutes or so, pressing out excess water occasionally and tossing the vegetables around to help get out the excess.

Mix remaining ingredients with the shredded veggies.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and divide mixture into 6 patties and press together firmly.  Bake at 350F for 25 minutes.

Enjoy with eggs and bacon in the morning for a healthy and delightful start to your day!

Happy crafting!

Oven Dried Peppers

You really just need peppers and an onion.

I also used parchment paper because I did not want them to burn and I also did not really want to wash my pan...

Anyway, these are serranos and I sliced them in half after taking the ends off to roast them.  Basically, I wanted them to dry faster because I started doing this around 8PM.  If you have all day, you go for it whole.

Anyway, set your oven on a low heat, under 200F.  200 is the first temperature notch on my gas oven so it is hard for me to say exactly where mine was setting, but anything from 170F to 200F should be fine.

Anyway (I just said it since I had previously, ahaha), roast these for about 4 hours, flipping the peppers over every hour or so.  You want them to be nice and dry.  Moisture left in them will not help them keep. As always, time will vary based on oven and pans.  I have a gas oven and dark nonstick.  I roasted mine on a lower shelf.

I don't really have any good sources of direct sunlight, nor a balcony, nor anything else to let Mother Nature dry peppers for me.  So that is why I gave it a go in my oven.  So far, it seems to have worked pretty well.

Obviously if you can let the sun work its magic, I highly suggest it.  But if you need some peppers dried quickly, I think this is a good option.

I have mine stored in a ziploc bag.  I made the mistake of biting in to one because, I don't know, I guess I have a deathwish or maybe since I am almost done with graduate school I feel invincible.  I highly do NOT suggest biting in to one.

However, it did help me realize that yes, they were dry, and yes, they were spicy.

Don't worry, I cooled my mouth down with a Twinkie.

I crushed up a piece of one for some salsa chicken that is currently going in my crockpot, which you may just see the recipe for tomorrow if it turns out as amazing as I fully believe that it will.  I am really unsure of how much to use, so hopefully I used enough to add a little heat.

If not, I will just never admit that I used any ;).  Problem solved.

Happy crafting!

Dinner: Steak, Asparagus, Carrot "Cakes"

You will need per person:
-Steak, I used an 8oz ribeye, which I planned 4 oz for this meal and the rest for fajitas, adjust to your preferred cut
-12 asparagus spears
-3 large carrots, finely shredded
-1/4 of a small white onion, finely minced
-2 TB almond flour
-1 jumbo egg
-1/4 tsp adobo sauce
-Salt and pepper
-Worcestershire sauce
-Seasoned salt

First, mix the carrots, onion, egg, almond flour, and adobo sauce together and add in some salt and pepper.  You can add other spices if you like. Drop into 2 piles on a parchment paper lined sheet and form into patties.  Bake at 350F for 22 minutes.  I actually think you could easily double the carrots and other ingredients while only using 1 egg if you also use jumbo eggs like I do, but it works this way as well.

When you drop your steak and veggies will depend on how done you like them both.  I wanted my steak to be able to cook to well done. I put a little bit of grease in the bottom of a skillet.  Add your steak and hit it with a teaspoon or so of Worcestershire, and season with salt and pepper.

I like to give the steak about 3 or 4 minutes on the first side, then flip and give it another minute or two before adding in the asparagus.  I am a real big fan of multitasking in one skillet.

If your steak is done before your carrot cakes, simply add a little water to the skillet, turn the heat to low, and cover with a lid until the cakes are done.  This will steam your veggies and keep everything nice and juicy.

I am looking to eat a whole lot of veggies and very little bread this week as I was terrible last week in the diet department.  This was a very tasty kickoff meal.  I loved the carrot cakes, and this would be easy to do with zucchini as well.  My next ones I do believe will be a zucchini and pepper combination cake.

Happy crafting!

Blackened Cod and Homemade Tartar Sauce

For tartar sauce:
-1/2 c mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, or Greek Yogurt (use what you like, or split 50/50!)
-1 TB sweet pickle relish
-1/2 tsp lemon juice
-1/2 small white onion, very finely minced
-1/4 tsp paprika
-Salt and pepper to taste

Other
-Cod filet
-Blackening seasoning
-Rice, bread
-Olive oil

Mix all the tartar sauce ingredients, preferably letting them sit for an hour or so before using.

Coat a skillet in olive oil.  Add the cod and salt and pepper.  Add blackening seasoning to desired level, and cook about 4 minutes per side for a thicker filet.

This cod was so awesome, I have not had cod in a long time and was pumped that mom had some.

I love how awesomely thick and flakey cod is, it would make a GREAT fish sandwich as well.

Happy crafting!

Good Morning: Fried Eggs and Bacon Over Roasted Vegetables

For the Veggies:
-2 tomatoes, pureed
-1 red and 1 green bell pepper, sliced
-1/2 each of a white onion and red onion, sliced
-3 zucchini, sliced
-Pinch of garlic
-Hefty dose of pepper
-Salt
-Herbs de provence or italian seasoning as preferred

Other:
-2 eggs per serving
-2 or 3 strips of bacon, fried crispy per serving

So I actually made this veggie dish first for dinner.  I was attempting to make a ratatouille like in the Disney movie that was all pretty and fancy.  And I sort of did, but I tried to cram all these veggies in a 9 inch round glass baking dish and that really just did not work.  So allow me to suggest a 9x13 or so glass baking dish.

Anyway, spread the pureed tomatoes over the bottom of the greased dish.  You can also just use pasta sauce, use enough to put a thin layer on the bottom.  If using tomatoes, I like to toss just a light sprinkle of garlic and herbs de provence on them with salt and pepper.  I will also include this seasoning profile over the veggies.

Layer the veggies in the dish, overlapping them (even if not as perfectly as Disney and that cute little mouse would have...). Hit them with the seasonings, and a very light drizzle of olive oil or other grease.

Cover with parchment paper and bake for about 50 to 60 minutes at 350F.  If using tomatoes, you may want to scoop it out with a slotted spoon as your tomatoes may make it juicier than tomato sauce.

Fry the bacon up to crispy and then I suggest frying the eggs in the bacon grease.  I mean really.  It is less wasteful...and super delicious.  You want them over easy so that yummy egg yolk will run all over the veggies and make your morning super awesome. I put 2/3 of my bacon crumbled UNDER the eggs, and then topped it with the rest of it.  It made it look pretty.  I really don't have any better reasons than that.

This whole idea reminds me of some really good eggs benedict dishes that I have had.  I actually started the veggie part of this as part of a zone meal idea that I was working on.  I have a couple friends who eat according to the zone diet, and so every now and then I look at ways I could make some tasty dishes zone-friendly.  I haven't tested them out on my zone friends yet, but I really do think they would find them delicious.

After all...I find them delicious, and I am the ultimate bread-lover in the morning.  So for me to be completely satisfied with a morning that did not involve buttered toast...that is really saying something.  I am actually considering making this more often and doing the egg thing because it would just be some extra nutrients to start my day.  Also, I feel like I stayed fuller longer with this.  So it was pretty nice.

The veggie part of this should probably feed 3-4 if you are eating it as a side, and 2 if it is part of a zone meal or the main component of a meal.

Definitely mix up your veggies if you like adding in summer squash, eggplant, or other peppers as desired.

Happy crafting!

For the College Kid: Care Packages

As I have now been in college for 6 years (undergrad and graduate) I feel more than qualified to attest to the importance of care packages.

Also, with the wide variety of UPS and USPS boxes and envelopes available for shipping things, it can be pretty inexpensive to get things moving.

Do not bother to do the fancy, pricey ones that sites and campuses try to sell you on all the time.  Go for things you know your kid will like.

The sugar party pictured here is one my mom sent me after a span of a couple days where I repeated said that I would happily injure someone if it meant I could have a Cosmic Brownie.  Have you ever had a Cosmic Brownie? If you have, I think you know that they are delicious and you probably understand why I was so keen to have them.

Regardless, care packages need not be this big, but they should be sent every now and then.  I actually like getting them better when they are a just because thing as opposed to a holiday.  My theory with that is the same as with many things: you are required to think of people on holidays.  You are not required to think of them on any given Wednesday.  Therefore, a care package just because is a much bigger surprise than one for Valentine's Day or similar.

One time my mom sent me a padded envelope full of M&M pouches of all different flavors.  That was a fun care package as well, and was much smaller.  My point here is it can be anything and can be quite small and still make a great impact.

If you aren't a big fan of shipping sugar and calories, get some fun ink pens or post it notes or things that your student uses a lot.

Heck, a care package of socks so they don't have to do laundry as soon...

A care package can be anything and just needs to show that you cared enough to think of someone.

And if you do not want to ship something, you can always send a small eGift card from Starbucks or Amazon or whatever you want just to let someone know you were thinking of them.  There are a ton of ways to do it.  Just remind that stressed out college kid that you have them in mind every once in a while.

It helps keep us human.

Happy crafting!

Lego Cake

This was a cute lego cake done for a little boy's birthday.  It is really simply to do if you can find the candy molds for it.  Typically you can find plastic or silicone molds, I highly suggest going with silicone if you can get your hands on some.  I think chocolate releases a lot easier from the silicone molds.

You can either buy colored chocolate from some place like Hobby Lobby or a local cake shop may have it as well.  If not, you can buy white chocolate and color it yourself.

With some cute scrolling around the edges and some little letters, you can whip out a simple birthday cake in no time!

Happy crafting!

Stuffed Peppers: Mushrooms, Bacon, Onion, Chicken

You will need:
-2 green bell peppers
-1 chicken tenderloin
-5 mushrooms, about the size of a golf ball or so
-1/2 yellow onion
-2 tsp balsamic vinegar
-2-4 strips of bacon

I fried my bacon in a skillet, drained off a little of the grease and then added in the mushrooms and the onions.  Let those cook a few minutes, stirring occasionally, and then add in the chicken after cutting it up into chunks.   Cook for about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring around as needed.  You don't need everything to be 100% done since you will bake these peppers, but you do need things to have a head start.

Remove all of that from the heat and cut your bacon into small pieces and add it in.  Preheat your oven to 350F and slice your peppers in half.  Remove seeds, stem, etc. and fill with your mixture. Drizzle balsamic over if desired.

Add 1/4 C water into a glass baking dish with the peppers and cover with aluminum foil.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Happy crafting!

Super Bowl Champion Brownies: Easy Rich Chocolate Brownies and Peanut Butter Helmets

For the Brownies:
-1 box chocolate fudge brownie mix for a 9x13 pan
-Ingredients needed for the brownies EXCEPT chocolate sauce in place of water (I used my balsamic chocolate sauce, recipe found here.)
-1/2 container of chocolate icing

For the peanut butter helmets:
-1/2 C peanut butter
-1 pack of chocolate candiquick
-1 heaping TB coconut butter
-1/2-1 C powdered sugar (start with less and work up to desired consistency)
-water as needed to bring mixture together (add about a TB at a time)
-silicone helmet molds

Bake the brownies according to directions, as stated above switching out a chocolate sauce for water.  My balsamic chocolate sauce is about the same consistency as chocolate syrup that you would buy for ice cream, to give you an idea of texture.

While that is going on, mix up the peanut butter centers.  I made mine a stiffer center that I could shape and mold myself, so I probably used closer to 1 C powdered sugar and about 1/4 C or maybe a little less of water to bring it all together.

Melt the candiquick and put about a half teaspoon or so in the bottom of a helmet well.  Using the back of a spoon or a paintbrush, brush the chocolate up the sides of the mold.

Do that for all the helmets and pop it in the fridge for 3-5 minutes or so until the chocolate is set.

Press the peanut butter into the molds and cover and seal in melted chocolate.  Put them back in the fridge for another 5 minutes or so.  Pop them out of the molds and keep them in a relatively cool place until ready to top the brownies.  My apartment is always warm, so I kept mine in the fridge.

I made 24 helmets and had ample filling and chocolate that I could have made probably at least 36.

Once the brownies come out, allow them to cool for a bit.  I actually cut mine first just to make it easier at the party, but you do not have to.

Put the chocolate icing in a measuring cup or small bowl and heat for about 30 seconds to melt it.

Drizzle as much icing as desired all over the brownies. I let that cool down about five minutes and then drizzled some of the extra melted candiquick over the brownies as well.

When that has all cooled down, press the helmets into the icing.

These are sure to be a hit at any party.  The coconut butter in the peanut butter centers really gives them a subtle flavor that reminds me a lot of a chico stick, or whatever those tasty candy sticks were that had the coconut on the outside.

The chocolate sauce gives the brownies an extra hint of awesome.  It is a really great way to make a box of brownie mix taste a little fancier.  Sometimes, you really just don't feel like making a brownie from scratch...

Happy crafting!

Cupcake Cookies One Year Celebrations

This was a box of cookies my mom did for a one year old's birthday party.

This is really simple to do, you just need a couple different cookie cutters and icing to match the color scheme.

This set was done with the number one, a cupcake cutter, and a regular round to make cute little monogram cookies.

I did forget to post anything yesterday, but I will double up tomorrow in honor of Super Bow!

Happy crafting!