Peppermint Rainbow Cupcakes

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Super easy and adorable.


Ingredients:
White cake mix
Food coloring [blue, green, yellow, orange, red]
2 tbs Starbucks peppermint  syrup

Icing:
2 cups confectionary sugar
2 tbs milk
1tbs peppermint syrup

 

1. Make the cake batter as directed on the box and add the peppermint for a nice fresh kick.

2. Separate the batter into 5 bowls (or however colors you want to make). Add 2 drops of food coloring per bowl.

3. Put the cupcake papers in the tray and start with blue. Cover the bottom of the paper. Then onto green, spread each layer out, but not too thin that you see the color underneath.

4. Cook as directed on the cake box.

5. Frosting:: Combine the ingredients, place into a ziploc bag and cut the tip off. Make a pretty swirl on top of the cake, sprinkle with candy pearls, and stick a candle in it.

happy
birthday
rarry

 

Portobello Pockets

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A quick lunch for a sunny day. This portobello pocket recipe makes 4 sandwiches [[about 150 calories/serving]].

Ingredients:
1 tbs olive oil
3 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried rosemary and basil (each)
2 cloves of pressed garlic
A few cracks of ground pepper
2 full pitas with pockets (Pita Thins)
Spinach leaves
Fresh tomato
Onion

 

First, I plugged in my Cuisinart panini grill to get that heated. Combine the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic and spices in a small bowl.

Cut the onion into half-inch slabs and keep them together (in their rings). Clean the portobellos under the sink with a paper tower. Dry.

 

 

Give the onion and mushrooms a healthy covering of the balsamic mix and place on the grill. Close the grill (if you’re using a panini maker).

While you’re at it, put the pita on the grill so it gets toasty.

That will take about 5-6 minutes to grill. In the meantime, slice up some tomatoes.

Assemble! Start by lining the spinach along the bottom and side of the pocket. It makes a nice catch-all for the mushroom and onion juices. Then add the mushroom, onion and tomatoes. Some mozzarella cheese goes nicely but is optional. Now go eat outside in the sun.

Before: After:

Making Veggie Sushi

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Ingredients:
1 cup Short grain rice
3 sheets of roasted seaweed (nori)
1 tbs rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Cucumber
Avocado
Carrots
Step 1: Cooking the Rice.
Add 1 cup of water to a saucepan with 1 cup of short grain rice.  Allow it to come to a boil uncovered. Once it boils, bring the heat down to low and cover it for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes take it off head and leave it covered for another 15 minutes. Next, add the vinegar, salt and sugar to a small sauce pan and heat it up so most of the granules dissolve. Then add it to the rice and fold it in till its evenly distributed. Let it cool at room temperature.Now prep the vegetables. Using a peeler make strips of carrots and cut the the cucumber into 1/8″ slivers. I used 3/4 of an avocado so each roll had 1/4. Cut that into chunks as well.Take the first sheet of nori and put it shiny side down. I do this right on the countertop without a bamboo mat. Put 1 cup of the cooked rice on the sheet. Wet your hands or else the rice will stick to you. Press the rice all the way out to the side edges of the nori and about 1″ from the top and bottom of sheet. Using the back of a wet wooden spoon, mat down the rice so it’s even and flat. Add the carrots, then cucumbers and avocado neatly on the edge of the rice on the bottom. Keep it as neat and tight together as possible.Now Roll! After you roll all the vegetables over the first time, make it really tight and round with your hands. Tuck in the veggies or rice that may have escaped. Then continue to roll the rest up til it looks like a neat little burrito. Let that rest in the fridge for about 25 minutes. This chill will make it easier to cut, plus I like my rolls cold. Then cut with a serrated knife and serve with wasabi soy!///This recipe makes 3 big rolls.. Serving size is 1 roll at about 340 calories.

どうぞめしあがれ!

 

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

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What you need:
1/2 cup Chi-Chi’s chunky salsa
1 (10oz) can red enchilada sauce
1.5tbs chili seasoning
1 package white corn tortillas
1 cup low fat Mexican Blend shredded cheese
1lb lean ground chicken
pinch of salt
dried cilantro Cook chicken in a sauce pan and break into little pieces. Add chili seasoning.
Add salsa, enchilada sauce, and a little salt. Let that simmer for a few minutes.
Cut the tortillas in a stack into strips.
Line the bottom of a casserole dish with about half of the tortillas strips. Then put a layer of the chicken mixture and cover that with 1/2 cup of cheese.
Put down a second layer of tortillas, chicken and cheese. Sprinkle cilantro on top.
Put the casserole in the oven at 350F for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and slightly toasted.
Serve! Salsa, guacamole, and or sour cream are optional to offset the heat nicely.[[Makes 6 servings at about 235 calories/serving.]]

yes!

Vegetarian Hot & Sour Soup Recipe

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Now over to an Asian culinary tradition. This recipe is vegetarian, but chicken can be substituted for tofu.
Ingredients:
6 cups chicken broth
3 eggs
15oz tofu
.6oz shiitake mushrooms
3 small carrots
.75oz green onions (white parts)
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/8 cup soy sauce
1.5 tsp red curry paste
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 waterStep 1: Soak mushrooms in chicken broth to rehydrate. Meanwhile, dice the bottoms of the green onions (just the white parts) and cook till soft in a soup pot with some cooking spray.

Step 2: Add chicken broth, curry paste, vinegar, mushrooms and soy sauce. Boil!

Step 3: Slice carrots into strips and add. Let those cook for a few minutes.Step 4: Cube the (drained) tofu and add.Step 5: Add water to the cornstarch and mix till dissolved. Add to the soup.Step 6: Whisk 3 eggs in a bowl and add slowly to soup. That will take a few minutes to cook. Let all that goodness simmer.Step 7: Serve! Use the green tops from the onions as a nice garnish.This recipe makes about 6 servings at about 160 calories/serving.

Enjoy!

Homemade Pasta!

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Now onto homemade pasta…

It’s a lot easier than you think, and the more you make it, the easier and quicker it gets. I know nothing could be easier than spending 89 cents on a box of store-bought pasta but the taste of fresh pasta is unmatched by anything you’ll buy in a store.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup semolina flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Let’s get started:
Mix the salt and flours together on the countertop.  
Make a well in the center of the flour mix and add the eggs. 
Beat the eggs in slowly, working in more and more of the flour. 
Knead. Knead. Knead. If the mixture is too dry add a TINY bit of water, or if it’s too wet sprinkle some semolina flour and work it in. Kneading will probably take 5 or so minutes. 
Cut the dough into quarters and wrap. Let it sit at room temperature for about 25 minutes.
After the dough has set, roll out one quarter and dust with semolina so it doesn’t stick. Cut into halves or thirds and roll out until it’s flat enough for the pasta machine. Start on the widest setting on the machine. For my Kitchen Aid Sheet Roller attachment that’s a 1. Run it through once or twice and increase the setting incrementally until you reach the desired width of the pasta. We stopped at setting 5. 
Cut those long thin strips into squares about 5″ long. Swap out the Sheet Roller attachment for the Pasta Cutter attachment. We’re using the wide cutter attachment to make a nice fat fettucini! Now put those squares through!
Sprinkle semolina flour on a tray and spread the pasta out so it doesn’t stick to each other.
If you don’t plan to cook all the pasta at once, hang the strips of fettucini on hangers for at least 15 minutes before packing for later use. If not, cook! Fresh pasta will only take between 4-6 minutes in boiling water.
Mix with your favorite sauce, pop the Prosecco and enjoy!