Heart Cookies with Various Scrolls

Royal icing for us is stiff enough to not run over the side of a cookie but fluid enough that you can quickly flood a cookie.  If you are careful and deploy a little strategic maneuvering, you can still easily make pretty designs in the cookie without needing to make a stiffer icing.

For the cookie on the left, I made the scrolled outline first, let it set, and came back and filled in the rest with a thin layer of icing.  Then, I did a second layer over the scrolling. 

For the cookie on the right, I did the base layer of the icing and let it dry.  The more you let it dry the better the top scrolling will stand up.  I made sure to not squeeze an excess of icing out and made a very simple but elegant scroll with the icing bottle.  These two cookies create a more interesting design than just a plain ole heart and will make cute edible delights at a wedding we are making them for.

My main recommendations are not overdoing it, not doing designs too close, and being patient enough to wait for it to set if you are using one of this consistency.  If you want the simpler of the two, use the style on the right.

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Leftover Usage: Fajitas

 I thrive on meal planning when I am at school, it really helps me budget and use things to the max.  I always attempt to find ways to use leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day.  A lot of things are simpler to make in a larger quantity to start with, like steak.  I may actually only eat a half of a steak in one sitting as I like to eat smaller portions of meat sometimes, but the rest of it NEVER goes to waste.

One thing that is great to use is chicken and steak.  If you have some leftover, you can toss some onions and peppers on a grill with a little butter, seasoned salt, and pepper.  You can use a Mexican seasoning if you like of course.

Depending on how done you like your veggies and if your meat is leftover or fresh, you may give the veggies a few minutes head start.

Just cut your meat into strips, plop it on the griddle, and let it reheat.  Once it is heated through and your veggies are cooked to your preference, you can assemble the fajitas with all of the desired toppings.

We put a little pat of butter in with the meats too to keep them nice and moist.

Just a couple of strips of steak, for instance, on a tortilla can be a very satisfying meal.  You can load them up with tomatoes, guacamole, roasted corn, and anything else you like.

Creative uses of leftovers will make for delicious and exciting meals back to back and serve as a great way to reduce your waste and help your budget.

And for college, I am especially concerned with managing my budget.

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All Power, No Flour Muffins

Ingredients:
-1 and 1/4 C Oats
-2 large carrots, finely shredded
-1 Container Chobani BeeNana Flip (5.3 oz, yougurt and flippy yumminess)
-1/4 C fresh, finely chopped pineapple
-1/4 C dried berry blend mix via Trader Joe's
-2 TB locally sourced honey (I used clover honey) via Whole Foods
-1/4 C Almond Meal (Trader Joe's has great prices on it)
-1/4 C Chopped Pecans
-3/4 tsp baking powder
-1 single serve container of cinnamon applesauce
-1 egg
-3-4 TB Cinnamon (seriously these can handle more than you would imagine.  I used probably 1.5-2 TB the first time and it was not near enough)
-1 tsp ginger (I did not use nearly enough the first time with just a shake or two, I would go with a full tsp)


You just need to mix all these ingredients together, I mixed it up by hand for once.  Grease a mini muffin pan and fill pretty much full, as they won't do much raising.  Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until they are starting to brown and firm.

Let cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, and then transfer to a wire rack.  You may need to use a knife to loosen the edges.  I sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar on top.

I do not profess to be a nutritionist in any way shape or form. However, I do at least know that a muffin made without oil and butter and with applesauce and Greek yogurt is probably a much better choice.  Chobani Greek is packed with protein, carrots are loaded with fiber, and all of these fruits are packing some pretty fantastic amounts of vitamins.

Basically I made these because I want a quick bite I can pop before I go running in the morning.  That's right, the self proclaimed hater of running is trying to convince herself to take it up.

It turns out it is a lot more difficult when a coach isn't yelling at me.

However, I am a human that does not do well without food right when I get up.  That is why I am calling these All Power muffins, I need something that will be a healthy little bite before I go try to up my cardio.  I don't want to eat a full out breakfast and then run because that would make me sick.  I would rather pop a couple of these, hit the road, and eat breakfast when I get back.  So that is the plan for now.

These have a really bright flavor as is, even though I did not get enough spice in my first batch, so don't worry too much if you think you have it a little underspiced at first run.  They will still be tasty if you use quality ingredients.

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Garlic Cheese Knots: Dough Made with Greek Yogurt!

Ingredients:
-3/4 C AP flour
-1 6 oz container Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt
-Salt
-3/4 tsp baking soda

Mix all of the ingredients together, adding a little water if dry.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, dusting with extra flour as needed.

You want to get it to a consistency that you can roll out between your hands.  Break off hunks about the size of a ping pong ball, roll, and twist into a knot.  It should make at least 8 knots.

Brush with butter* and sprinkle with garlic cheese topper and fresh grated parmesan cheese.  I would also suggest adding a hint of sea salt, as the dough is naturally a little more sweet to begin with since it uses yogurt.

I baked these at 400 for 14 minutes on convection because I was also making a pizza.  I greased the cookie sheet with butter (a light cookie sheet as I am home for the summer).  IF I was making these and not making a pizza, I would probably knock back the heat and let them cook lower and slower, at 350 until they get golden brown.

Now, as to my * note above.  I brushed mine with a little butter, that is true.  However, I really think that melting butter, dipping the tops of the knots in butter and then dipping it in a garlic topper/parmesan (heavy on the parm) topping and setting on a greased cookie sheet would work out better.  I consider these to be one of my works in progress.

Another option is to leave out the salt and add a pinch of sugar, then you could roll the knots in butter and a cinnamon sugar mix and bake cinnamon knots.  A quick powdered sugar and milk glaze or similar would be delicious as a dipping sauce or drizzle.  That idea reminds me a lot of something I used to do in home ec classes in high school and similar, and they were always one of our favorite days to be in class!

It is a super simple dough that is a mix between a pizza dough and a cake, but is good for a quick little side.  You can also use it as a pizza dough or similar, make cheesy breadsticks, and whatever else your crafty little self can come up with.

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Skillet Grilled Cod with Fruit Salsa

We bought some delicious looking cod at Trader Joe's.  First and foremost, we liked the idea of our fish being a product of the USA.  Good job to you Trader Joe's.  Good job to you.

Anyway, on just over medium heat grease a skillet with a little butter.  Drop the fish in the skillet, season with seasoned salt and pepper for a mild flavor or blackening seasoning for a kick, and cook on each side for about 3 minutes.  Like most meats, you really only want to have to flip it once.  But fish is especially sensitive because it has a tendency to fall apart if it is overhandled.

If you are a newbie cook or inexperienced with fish (I think I qualify on both counts) you might want to cut it in half to make sure it is done.

We served this with my fruit salsa of a last week, which has mango, kiwi, pineapple, honey, and a little mint. It was made with all fresh fruits and herbs, the fruits were also products of Trader Joe's and the honey was locally sourced honey that I bought from Whole Foods.

We served it all over rice.

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Savory Clafoutis: Quiche-like dish with eggs, Chobani Greek Yogurt, Veggies, and Mozzarella

Scrolling through the paper this morning we found an interesting recipe for clafoutis, which are typically a French dessert that has cherries.  However, the article also mentioned making savory versions, and I was SOLD.  Here is my version:

-4 eggs
-2 TB flour
-A little less than 1/2 C almond meal
-1 good sized baby portabella mushroom, chopped (more as desired based on size of baking dish and love of mushrooms of course)
-a handful of cherry tomatoes (halved)
-about 3 ounces of mozzarella, cubed (FRESH mozz, please)
-7 TB Chobani Plain Greek yogurt 0% fat
-7 TB milk (whole)
-1/4 tsp crushed rosemary
-1/2 tsp Basil
-1/2 tsp garlic cheese topper
-Salt to taste
-Pepper

Butter a pie dish that is about 7 inches or so in diameter. I had a little batter leftover (probably at least a half cup), which I think is because I used some chunky veggie pieces, so you might be able to use a slightly bigger dish and be just fine. Whisk the eggs in your mixer with the salt for a minute or two, then add in the greek yogurt and milk, and herbs.  Mix that until incorporated and then mix in the flour and almond meal.

Put the mushroom pieces, tomato halves, and fresh cubed mozzarella on the bottom of the dish.  Add a little salt (I suggest sea salt) and pour in the egg mixture.  Bake at 350 for about 37 minutes (essentially 35 to 40 depending on your oven and how done you prefer it to be). 

This particular flavor combination had the undertones of a fresh pizza or delicious Italian dish.  We put a little fresh grated parmesan on top of it. 

You could make pretty much any flavor combination you wanted with this.  It can easily be a breakfast food or dinner food, depending on the combinations.  You can safely feed two with this particular recipe, and should increase it as needed for larger gatherings.  Also to consider would be baking it in well greased muffin tins, or even mini muffin tins for use as an appetizer or on the go breakfast.

Originally the recipe called for heavy cream, which I subbed out for Greek Yogurt.  That ups the protein and brings down the fat content all at once, which I consider a major plus.  The dish is still plenty rich and filling, and extremely tasty.  You can pretty much have this thrown together in five minutes!

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Hello Kitty Cake

So believe it or not, I have never really been a Hello Kitty fan.  It could partly be due to my age, although I sure do see a lot of Hello Kitty backpacks on campus and notebooks in college courses...so maybe it was just never for me.

BUT, I love to put it on a cake.  Hello Kitty, while not my cup of tea, is super cute and always fun.  The nature of the cute cat lends itself well to whimsy and fun, so that is why I offset the character to the edge.

To do this cake, I put all of the base icing on and got the cake smooth.  BEFORE I put the piping on, I used a round cake pan to press into the icing, about 2/3 of the pan over the corner of the cake.  The size you need for this will vary by how big your bottom cake is, but any mixing bowl or similar round object will be perfectly acceptable.

After that was pressed in, I used my offset spatula edge to trace in some ears.  Then, I piped the cake edges with a fluffy bright pink icing.

Like seriously, I look over at this cake right now and it hurts my eyes from across the room. 

Anyway, after the piping was finished I put a big pink bow on, that way if it overlapped the outline I would know where to pass up on black. 

Next I put in the outline, the whiskers, and the eyes.  I overlapped the whiskers on the piping to give it some more dimension, or at least pseudo-dimension.  Using white icing I put an oval on the cake and CAREFULLY put yellow sprinkles all over it.

I was not going to dye a tiny glob of icing yellow.  Plus, this is for a kid and kids LOVE sprinkles.

Heck...I love sprinkles....

I pushed the sprinkles into the oval and made sure that it was secure.

I used my same piping tip on the flowers on the side of the cake.  I all I did was make tiny rosettes right next to each other and placed a white sixlet in the middle to make them look like fluffy flowers.  I put little stars between them just to add some more fun.

The cake is on a board covered with gold foil which works remarkably well with the overall look of the cake.  It is fun, it was simple, and it is going to make some little girl very very happy.

The last finishing step was to put some edible sugar glitter within the Hello Kitty character. 

If you have a cake you want to do, consider breaking it down into its simplest components.  You would be amazed at what you can do!

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