How to Make Beignets in Under 10 Minutes

Back in college, I did two service trips to New Orleans. That is where I discovered this magical things called beignets (French for “donuts”). There’s nothing like them really, and I always get overexcited when I get to eat them. Although there’s nothing like getting them fresh and hot from Cafe du Monde (original place in New Orleans), it’s still a treat to be able to have them from home. This isn’t going to be a complicated recipe. No, instead, I used the actual box mix that Cafe du Monde sells. Chris got me 3 boxes of them for Valentine’s Day last year. This product gets a full thumbs up.

Feast yer eyes

Prep Time: 7 minutes
Cooking Time: >1 minute

Ingredients

2 cups Cafe du Monde beignet box mix
7/8 cup water
flour for unsticking purposes
oil
powdered sugar

Directions

Stir together the 2 cups of the mix and the water until it is all bound together
Heat up a deep pot or skillet with an inch of oil in it. Turn up the heat!
Flour a cutting board and your rolling pin and roll out the mixture until it’s around 1/4 inch
Then go ahead and cut it into a little bigger than 2 square inch pieces. It was all a rough estimate for me.
As soon as your oil is hot (I don’t have a thermometer so I dropped water in to see if it would sizzle), drop those bad boys in. They shouldn’t need longer than 2 minutes
Take them out and dry them
Pour copious amounts of powdered sugar on them and then STUFF YOUR FACE!!

At least, that’s what I did. I couldn’t even finish them and Chris wouldn’t help me because he wasn’t hungry that early. I had tried making these before and failed horribly. It’s taken me awhile to try again and I’m glad I did because they came out pretty darn good. Not as good as Cafe du Monde, but that was never a goal. Go ahead and treat yourself with a box of this magic. We found it at World Market near us, but look it up! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Nymeria taking a selfie

Dec092013

Sugar Cookie Chex Party Mix Recipe

This weekend, Chris and I attended our first blogging event. Chex had researched the blogs in the Colorado area and we popped up on their list! We drove down to the Park Meadows Mall in Lone Tree (which is BEAUTIFUL) and attended the event for about an hour. The bloggers were all female and a slightly older demographic. Everybody was super friendly and it was great to meet other bloggers, especially some of who I follow daily like Dinners, Dishes and Desserts. We spent half the time trying out the easy peasy Chex holiday recipes and then the other half bundling up the goodies in little gift boxes and bags. All the recipes we learned were easy and delicious–perfect for procrastinators like me for gift-giving. And then Chex sent all of us home with goodie bags that we very much appreciated. Thank you, Chex! It was hard picking one recipe out of the many we tried, but I’m going with the Sugar Cookie Chex mix. Now onto the yummy stuff…

Their setup

Ingredients

6 cups Rice Chex cereal
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
SPRINKLES!!

Ingredients all ready for us! Very nice

Directions

Put the cereal in a large bowl that can be microwaved
Line a baking sheet with some wax paper or foil for when you are finished
Get your butter melted, whether through the oven, microwave or other means
Mix the regular sugar and corn syrup into the butter, then microwave to loosen everything up
Stir in the vanilla.
Pour the mixture over the warmed up cereal and stir it so it is mixed properly. Also add in the white chocolate chips at this time
Microwave for 2 minutes
Sprinkle with the powdered sugar and really spread the sugar around
Now let’s lay the delicious cereal mixture onto that lined baking sheet. Sprinkle those sprinkles on top and have fun with it!

Amazingly delicious and simple

And that’s it. You can absolutely make this in under 15 minutes, no problem. If you prefer the oven, go for that! Next time when I do it on my own, I will probably substitute the corn syrup for some sugar and water. This dish is really delicious and it’s perfect for the holidays and school parties. Take advantage of it! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Question of the Day: What is your favorite holiday treat?

BONUS KITTY PIC

Nymeria and I watching kitty videos

Nov182013

Easy Dessert: Pear Tart with Crumble Atop

What do you do with pears that are getting soft? Bake them! At least that was my excuse for my next baking adventure: a pear tart…crumble…thing. It was a tart/pie in the way of having a crust and baking the fruit, but I also prepared a crumble for on top. It made to be a delectable combination and I will continue to use it in the future. The recipe is based on this, but I altered a good number of things.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Baking Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 pie crust (homemade or store-bought, whatever you’d like)
3-4 pears
2/3 cup turbinado sugar (used in separate times)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 stick butter
1 tspb lemon juice

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
Peel your pears and slice them up

Chop, chop!

Mix the sliced pears with 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl
Put the sliced pears with sugars into your pie crust
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and the rest of the sugar together. Then chop up your butter and “cut it” into the flour. You can use a pastry blender, but if you don’t have one like me, then you can just use a fork. You want to press the butter into the flour and sugar until it has a breadcrumb-like consistency
Pile it on top of the tart and put it in the oven for 45 minutes!

Putting in da oven

I was a little nervous about mixing a tart recipe and a crumble, but it actually turned out really well! And luckily, I didn’t have to use too much sugar. The pears give enough sweetness that you don’t need to dump cups and cups of sugar onto it. Try this recipe out, you won’t regret it! It’s pretty darn easy. And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Voila

Nomnomnom

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Little baby

Nov092013

Jazz Up Your Ramen

Chris has a serious ramen obsession, and I mean with all kinds. Since we don’t have a usual ramen place here in Boulder, we usually go with the packaged stuff. Now I rarely ever eat that packaged stuff, because it’s not the best for you. However, I did get him off the Top Ramen crap and now he eats the stuff that actually gets imported from Japan (a little more expensive, but worth it). Most people who have ramen have just that–just the noodles with hot water. I, however, dare you to jazz it up a little! Make it healthier! There are many ways to do this, but this is how we did it.

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20-25 minutes
Serving Size: 2

Finished product…oh so good

Ingredients

2 packets of Sapporo Ichiban ramen
2 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 cups spinach
1/3 block firm tofu
2-3 eggs

Directions

First, fill up a pot with water, about 4 inches of water. Start on high heat, aiming for a boil. Put the soy sauce in the water
Cut up the tofu into squares or thin strips
Wait for it to start boiling, and then put in the tofu
Turn down the heat slightly and let the tofu boil for about 20 or so minutes (I went and took a shower during this time)
Now it’s time to add the spinach or whatever kind of greens you want. Stir them around so they get submerged

Boiling boiling boiling

When you’re two minutes out, go ahead and crack the eggs into the boiling pot
Get out the ramen packets. You can use the flavoring if you want. Put into large bowls so that you have room for all the other fun stuff

Now slowly start to pour the contents of the pot into the bowls, you want to try to get the liquid out first and pour as evenly as you can. Then the other stuff will come plopping out too. And that’s basically it! Make sure to let the ramen sit a little bit so the noodles can expand

Not as appetizing as it tasted, but this is what it might look like when you first pour it

This is a quick meal with carbs, proteins, and fats in it to make it well-rounded. Yes, it’s still ramen from a package, but it certainly didn’t taste or feel that way after jazzing it up. Again, this is just one way of doing it. Next time I might add ground turkey for Chris’, more greens, and play with it! Add nutrients to food to stay hungry and fit!

Chris ended up finishing mine too…no surprises here

BONUS KITTY PIC

The cats FINALLY realized Dovah exists last night. They were so curious and interested they didn’t want to sleep

Nov052013

Mama’s Rhubarb Pie

Let me start by saying I have the best mum in the whole world. Let me say next that she makes the best rhubarb pie in the whole world. And let me say NEXT that she surprised me by sending me a package Halloween day with fresh-cut rhubarb from her garden two states away along with goodies like a movie and candy. She sent it that morning and it came that afternoon. I couldn’t believe it. Totally surprised me. She’s always sending me pictures and telling me she’s baking a rhubarb pie or crumble and I’m always unhappily drooling in Colorado (she lives in California). SO, I have rhubarb (a lot of people curiously don’t even know what this tart food is) and it really doesn’t require many more ingredients. It’s an easy recipe, but I called my mum a few times to make sure I was doing it right.

My mum and I trying not to laugh

Finished product. Yes I did make shapes on it

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Baking Time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

4 cups rhubarb (roughly)
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 piece pie crust

Directions

Thaw out the pie crusts (if you’re doing frozen) by leaving out for at least 15 minutes
Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees F
Chop up the rhubarb into 3/4 inch pieces (roughly) and toss them in a large bowl

Rhubarb from California! Straight from the garden

In a small bowl, mix the sugar and flour together
Now, toss the sugar/flour mixture with the chopped up rhubarb in the big bowl. Mix it around so that the sugar is evenly distributed among the rhubarb

This is the part where I always snack

Put that sugar-coated rhubarb in the first pie tin

Drooling…

Now, this is probably the trickiest part: getting the other crust to come down evenly on the bottom crust. So the rhubarb should be a little heaping in the bottom pie tin. Thus, you want to flip that second pie crust so that its bottom is on top.
Press upon the bottom crust and rhubarb. Use a fork to press and bind the two crust together all away around the edges. You will get some extra dough so get a sharp knife and slice around the edge to get the rest. Use the extra dough to make shapes or faces!

Looks weird, but I promise it turns out well!

Make three small slits in the pie to let it breathe
Now this next step is to ensure that the pie crust doesn’t burn: get some tin foil, fold it in half and just cover the edge of the crust. It may take a few pieces of foil. Nobody likes a burnt crust!

Put it on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake it for 15 minutes at 450 degrees F. Then turn it down to 350 degrees F for 40 to 50 minutes. It should be golden brown on top and you should be able to go through those slits cleanly

Just waiting for me to dig in

And that is it! This pie isn’t as fun to make without my mum because I have nobody to tell me not to eat the sugar-laden rhubarb and smack my hand. But it still turned out pretty well. Actually, it turned out to be delicious. The rhubarb was still tart but balanced off with the sugar, and the crust didn’t get burned at all! Maybe it’s in the blood. I’m glad I didn’t botch this one! Thanks, mum! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

Nommmmmmmmmmmm

BONUS KITTY PIC

Cuddles, obviously.

Oct302013

Powell’s Vegetarian Chili

It has been cold in Boulder. I know Chris likes it, but I’m not a huge fan of 30 or 40 degree weather. However, there are remedies to this! Such as hot chocolate…tea…oh and, VEGETARIAN CHILI! We would eat this a lot at home when I lived with my parents and it was always so tasty and gave that perfect sense of warmth and comfort. And I never realized how easy it was to make until I started cooking for my own. This chili lasted us a few nights and for a few lunches, keeping us warm against the turning seasons. This recipe comes from my family. It’s easy, healthy, and vegetarian-friendly.

Prep Time: 15-20 min
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves
1 large green or red pepper
1 package of mushrooms
1/2 onion
2 tbsp oil
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tbsp paprika or chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 15 oz. can red kidney beans
1.5 cups zucchini
1 10 oz. package frozen corn
shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Okay long list of ingredients, but it is super simple. First let’s chop up all the mushrooms, garlic, pepper, onion, and zucchini

Chopped veggieeees

Stir the garlic, peppers, mushrooms, and onions in a deep pot with oil until veggies are tender
Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, paprika, and cumin. Stir it and heat to a boil.

Reduce the heat to low. Then add the beans, corn, and zucchini. Simmer those until the veggies are tender

Add however much cheese you want into the chili and stir until it melts. Serve hot with sprinkled cheese on top!

🙂

We usually have it alongside some cornbread. It always fills me up with a sense of home and happiness. I know I will be making it more as the days get colder. The second day we had it, Chris added some ground turkey into it and it was also delicious! This recipe is incredibly easy, delicious, and healthy. Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

Cuddle buddies forever

Oct152013

Easy Cheesy Whole-Wheat Vegetarian Lasagna

The weather is getting colder (I actually saw little baby snowflakes today!) and the body wants warm food. What better to have on a cold night than a steaming plate of lasagna. Great comfort food with plenty of nutrients. This one has less fat than the average lasagna because you aren’t using ricotta. AND it’s whole-wheat! Can’t beat that. I got the recipe from here and then adapted it. Alright, let’s get to it.

Proved to be a wonderful dinner

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 50-70 minutes

Ingredients

8 oz box whole-wheat lasagna
9 oz frozen spinach
3 eggs
1/2 cup powdered Parmesan
3 cups low-fat cottage cheese
a few fistfuls shredded mozzarella
2 cups red sauce of your choosing

Directions

Cook your whole-wheat lasagna until it is just al dente
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
Grease up a glass baking dish
In a bowl, mix the eggs, cottage cheese, and Parmesan cheese

Cheeeeeesayyyyy

Alright, now it’s time to layer this puppy up! Start by laying down the foundation: the first few pieces of lasagna so it covers the bottom of the baking dish
Next comes the spinach. Lay about half the spinach that you have on top of the noodles, somewhat evenly.

Place another layer of lasagna noodle. Then pour all of the cheese mixture on top of that

Then put a little bit more spinach on top of the cheese mixture. And then another layer of lasagna noodle!
We’re almost there, guys! Now spread the top of the noodles with your tomato sauce and then sprinkle the mozzarella on top.

Now it’s ready to bake! Put it in the oven for between 50 to 70 minutes. Mine took around 60. A good way to tell if it’s done is when the cheese on top is slightly browned. Another way to tell if it’s cooked all the way through is to stick a knife through the bottom and count to ten. If the knife is hot, then you’re good to go!

Chris’ protein shake behind it…

This was a wonderful dinner. Perfect with salad or some kind of greenery–and don’t forget the red wine! It doesn’t leave you feeling too heavy since it’s a bit less fat than the normal lasagna. And we had leftovers for like 2-3 days! I’m always happy because it means packing lunches are easy! Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!

Bon appetite!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Oct022013

Whole-Wheat Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread

So one of my clients gave me a RIDICULOUSLY big zucchini. Enormous. Like an elephant trunk. I wish I took a picture of it. So what to do with this unholy piece of vegetable? At first I would cut it up and roast or fry it…but then I was still left with half of the zucchini (I would probably measure it at 2 feet). So I say to myself…why not bake something you’ve tried before? Whole-wheat chocolate chip zucchini bread, of course! I got the recipe from here and tweaked it. And I may have added a few dashes of things to make it more Fall–like. This is one delicious and healthy recipe! Let’s get to it.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Baking Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup mini-chocolate chips
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a bread pan
First off, let’s peel and shred that darn zucchini. Remember you only need 2 cups worth, so don’t get too crazy

Mix all the wet stuff (honey, oil, sugar, vanilla, and eggs) until nice and smooth

Whisk away

Now add the flour, salt, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg! Mix it well
Now stir in the zucchini, nuts, and chocolate chips!

Could eat this batter allllll day

Now scoop this batter into that greased up bread pan and make even

Now let’s put it in the oven for 55-60 minutes. Test it by sticking a fork or toothpick in it.

Nom nom nom

And that’s really it! The zucchini adds a wonderful texture to the bread. This is one great way of tricking your kids into eating zucchini by hiding it in this beautiful bread! Make sure to let cool for a little bit before serving, I know, it’s hard. Pretty simple recipe and instructions, perfect for leftover zucchini. After the first day, put in the fridge to keep the zucchini from going bad. Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC

Sep272013

The Most Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette

So we ran out of salad dressing. I had collected a bunch of sungold tomatoes from our farm (the Longmont YMCA where I work) so I wanted to put a nice salad together with the fresh goodies. All my life growing up, my mum made a delicious dressing. It wasn’t balsamic, I think it was more red wine. But her work inspired me. Why go buy salad dressing when I could just easily make one right here in my kitchen for half the cost? I looked up a recipe from here to steer myself in the right direction and then let the ingredients flow! This recipe is incredibly easy, quick, and tasty.

My gorgeous salad

Ingredients

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
a bunch of twists of black pepper
2/3 cup olive oil

Prepping

Directions

Beat everything together except the oil. I used a fork to do this

Oops, blurry

Then, slowly pour the oil in, mixing furiously the whole time

Un-mixed

Don’t forget to shake it up before serving!!

Shaken, not stirred

And, ummm, that’s it. Really tough, huh? I thoroughly enjoyed myself as I made this dressing along with the salad, listening to some La Vie En Rose (Louis Armstrong version) alongside a glass of red wine. It turned out delicious. Simple flavors bringing the salad to life, with that extra kick of vinegar and garlic to give that lingering taste. YUM. I say don’t refrigerate because the oil may get hard. I keep it in the pantry where it gets used very often. Must make a new batch soon. Use this recipe to stay hungry and fit!

End result of the salad. Couldn’t resist going for more

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BONUS KITTY PIC

CHIN RUBBBBBBBBBB

Sep112013

Chocolate Protein Rounds [No Baking Required]

My friend made me a batch of these for my birthday last week and I devoured way too many. Like wayyyy too many. But who cares, you only have a birthday once a year, right? Luckily, these things are pretty healthy and help me get my daily protein intake, so I wasn’t too worried. She had given me the recipe a long time ago, but I just never got around to making them. The original recipe doesn’t necessarily call for chocolate protein powder, but it’s all we have so I decided to give it a go. Really glad I did–super easy. And it’s nice not to bake when it’s 80 degrees out! I altered it somewhat and it turned out well!

My own version of a Hershey’s Kiss…without the slave labor!

Ingredients

1 cup oats
1 cup chunky peanut butter
2 cups chocolate protein powder (you could do vanilla, though)
1 tbsp honey
2/3 cup Silk Vanilla Unsweetened Almondmilk (you can use regular)
1 tbsp dried cherries (you can use any dried fruit)
1 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl

Dry ingredients mixed together

Mix the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. It’s tough at first because of the peanut butter, but I just whisked it down until it was well-mixed and of one mixture
Slowly mix the wet into the dry ingredient bowl. First I used a whisk, but in the end I had to use a wooden spoon to really mix it well.

Take out a cookie sheet and place wax paper on top. Then scoop out bite-sized pieces of the mixture and line it up on the wax paper.

Put into the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove from the freezer and then wrap them individually with wax paper, otherwise it’s a sticky mess. Place in fridge until ready to eat!

Ready to go in the fridge

I am so glad the chocolate protein powder worked out. This is such a good snack before or after a workout. Gives you a bit of energy, but doesn’t weigh you down and has a good amount of protein to keep your muscles happy. It’s an unbelievably easy recipe and a great way to stay hungry and fit!

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BONUS KITTY PIC