Tag Archive | Baking

Challenge Accepted

So as I mentioned I’m not feeling so hot! When the hubby came to visit me at work he brought be a White Chocolate Raspberry Scone from Cobs bakery

It was heavenly! Light and sweet, with just the right amount of contrast from the raspberries. Loved it!

Googled the calorie content. 310 calories. I have to admit, worth every one of them! However being me I’m pretty sure I can make something a little healthier or at least a little more pocket book friendly!

So it looks like we know what I will be doing tonight! I will post the outcome ASAP!

Weekend Wonders-I’m Aware It’s Wednesday

Mar13

So my weekend wasnt all cooking and baking! I did a few other things and had a bit of relaxing time! Of course I’m not as intense in the relaxation zone as Muffin is!

Of course she earned these naps! She had to venture out to Bosleys pet store to get food and treats! Riding shot gun I’m the sun is a lot of work!

I keep telling you life is hard! So hard in fact I was forced to have a mud bath.

It may look odd but the mud leaves my skin so soft and it is actually very calming. They sell it by the bottle at Spa Utopia! Try it!

I spent some time gardening and was excited to see some of my seeds have sprouted! Very giddy to see the Brussels sprouts sprouted!!

We got a delivery of lumber for the new stairs. Complete with crane truck!

See I to you I did other stuff!! However I did do more baking, I baked cupcakes for Sandra’s birthday party! Vanilla bean filled with Nutella and frosted with chocolate buttermilk. Very rich and delightful.

While they were baking Maple and I played fetch for almost an hour! She is still full of puppy energy! Love her! Thankfully she didn’t mind my cowgirl chic look of muddy boots and lulemons! I’m sexy!

Saturday night a group of us headed to Sandra’s 31st Birthday party

The party was laid back and full of laughs and good conversation. I guess it’s a sign of changing times and our age. I’m glad I went. I’m glad I got to catch up with friends and cuddle Lincoln, the puppy! I was exhausted by the end of the night and very glad to come home to Kevin for a Saturday night of couch cuddles.

I woke up early Sunday morning and needed to get some fresh air, so Emma and I headed to the Sunday market and bought flowers. We got flowers for Krista and my mom as well as for me.

I just feel better about life when there is fresh flowers in the house. After we got the flowers situated, Krista and I took Emma and the dogs for another walk to our local dog boutique for some treats!

I am very excited that the two new pet-stores have opened in Cloverdale. It is nice to take Muffin for a walk and buy her a treat. No kids what can I say!

This week at work has been quiet and good minus the fact I have a horribly sore throat.

I’ve been alternating between cuddling Muffin, drinking tea, and whining about death being near!

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Mar9

A few weeks back I posted about making the stuffed pizza rolls using the Pillsbury crescent roll dough. I loved them but Kevin wanted to try the version my girlfriend made. I have to admit after seeing the photos of hers on Facebook I was eager to try her version! Of course being me I had to tweak it to my own liking! I added pizza sauce inside the rolls instead of just using it for dipping.

Ingredients
1 jar of pizza sauce
1 can of Pillsbury grands biscuits
16 slices of pizza pepperoni
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup diced red or sweet onion
1/4 cup diced hot peppers (optional)
1.5 cups shredded cheese
1 egg
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Method
Flatten the biscuits into rounds and spread with pizza sauce. Add peppers and onions. Top veggies and sauce with 2 slices of pepperoni and cover in cheese.

Carefully bring up edges and pinch together to seal and form a ball.

Place in greased cake pan and continue until all 8 balls are formed. Brush pizza rolls with egg wash and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, Parmesan, and garlic.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese and return to oven briefly to let it melt.
Serve with pizza sauce for dipping!

Enjoy!

Homemade Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Mar8

Here it is friends! My most requested cookie recipe! Chewy Chocolate Chip!!!

These cookies are chewy in the centre but have a nice crisp edge! I made a half batch today but this is the full recipe and makes about 28 good size cookies.

Ingredients

1 cup of room temperature butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
2 eggs

2 cups flour
2 1/4 cups oats
1 tablespoon baking soda
Pinch of salt

1.5 cups chocolate chips

Method

Cream butter with both sugars. Blend in egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl combine all ingredients and stir.

Add dry to wet and mix until just combined. You can use your hands, a wooden spoon, kitchen aid mixer. Whatever works for you!

I put six on the ungreased cookie sheet at a time. I use a cookie scoop for uniform size but if you don’t have one scoop about 2 tablespoons into a ball and drop onto sheet.

Bake for 12-14 minutes at 350 degrees. The center always look a touch under done if you like a crisper cookie bake a little longer!

Let the cookies cool on a rack. Store in a tightly sealed container. Enjoy!

Lovely Lemon Bars

Mar5

So I’m at work after an extra day off on the weekend. I caved on Sunday and called into work and took the night off after realizing I just didn’t feel up to going into work. I guess it is all part of the process and I just have to get use to it.

Onto happier, sweeter topics! On Saturday I had some free time and decided to whip up a batch of lemon squares. These little delights require a bit off effort and a lot of eggs but are indeed worth it!

Ingredients
Crust
2 cups of flour
1/2 Powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup butter

Filling
6 eggs
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 tablespoons flour
Zest from one lemon
1 1/4 lemon juice
1/4 cup milk or cream

Method
Crust
In a large bowl combine dry ingredients (I sift the powdered sugar in) and cut in butter. Mix with hands until mixture resembles crumbs. Press mixture into a greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees until edges turn golden about 15-20 minutes. Prep filling while base is baking!

Filling
Mix sugar and flour together in medium bowl. Lightly beat eggs in a bowl and add in sugar, lemon juice,zest and milk. Once mixed add liquid ingredient mix to the sugar/flour mix. Stir everything together until we’ll mixed.

Pour filling mixture over base and return to oven for 15 -20 minutes until filling mixture sets.

Cool on a rack and store left overs in the fridge or freeze.

I like to use a tart pan to make bars so I can remove the sides to make cutting easier but a lasagna pan lined in foil with extra foil over the edges to lift out works as well.

I like to dust these with powdered sugar before serving, or eat them over the kitchen sink… Which ever 😉

Rainy Day Baking – Cheese Biscuits

Mar2

It is raining sideways! It has been raining for over a week straight!!!! I’m so over it! I woke up this morning and decided to make a country breakfast! I whipped up a batch of cheesy biscuits to make egg and bacon breakfast muffins with organic fingerling home fries!

These biscuits can be made with or without the cheese and cut to any size you desire. They are wonderful fresh out of the oven still warm with a pat of butter, jam, or whatever you love… Lemon curd! They are super easy to make and beat the pants off those can biscuits! Give them a try!

Ingredients
3 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in your cup of milk and let stand five minutes)
1 cup grated cheese (optional)
I’ve added herbs, garlic, bacon bits, chives, etc in the past with great results. These biscuits are very versatile.

Method
Mix together dry ingredients and cut in butter and shortening. Mix with hands until mixture forms crumb texture. Pour in buttermilk and work together with hands. Once dough begins to form add in cheese or other yummy bits of your choosing!

Turn mixture out onto floured counter and roll out to about 3/4 to 1 inch thickness.

Use a drinking glass or biscuit cutter to cut dough into rounds. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake in preheated oven (425 degrees) for 13 – 15 minutes…less time if you make smaller sized biscuits.

Place biscuits on cooling rack as soon as they come out of the oven!

Serve warm with butter, jam, etc. or top them with an egg and bacon for a delicious breakfast muffin!

This morning I only made a half a batch and they still turn out perfect!

Let me know if you try them and what you think!

So Much For Daily!!!

Jan12

Happy Saturday!!!! So it’s been a few days since I’ve updated. The week had its ups and downs that’s for sure! Ups included but not limited to awesome work outs at the gym, my Dad’s birthday, a day trip to Bellingham with Kevin, a glorious day of thrift store shopping, and a day date with my man! Not to mention my kitchen successful adventures.

The only real down side of the week being my pain level. Yesterday was by far the most pain I’ve felt since mid summer. Of course that is a relevant statement considering I live with pain daily. Just the last few days has been very bad. Luckily I see my specialist soon. Enough about that! On to the pictures!

My Food!

I can’t seem to get enough Greek yogurt these days and this passion fruit flavour was spectacular!

I decided to invent a recipe while I was at work…I ended up making high protein low fat banana peanut butter muffins! These little bad boys pack a serious nutritious punch! Lots of protein, fibre and no junk minus six chocolate chips!

My boss and I wanted something veggie packed for dinner so I whipped up a stir fry with lots of veggies, chicken breast and a sweet chilli sauce served on a bed of quinoa. Serious healthy yum!

I tried a new to me oatmeal and it was very tasty served in my usual peanut butter, banana fashion. I’ve tried a few of the Bob’s Red mill products and I’ve never been disappointed.

I’m not sure what I was thinking yesterday morning at Starbucks but in that cup is a grande chamomile tea. Nothing unusual right?!??! Except for some reason my loopy brain decided to dump cinnamon in it along with the usual honey! Luckily it didn’t taste bad because by the time I realized what I had done we were already in the border line up!

I baked my dad a batch of date squares from my Grandmas recipe. They turned out nearly perfect, none will ever be as good as hers! I will share the photos and recipe soon.

I turned those ingredients into stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in prosciutto. They turned out rich and satisfying. Recipes and photos to come soon.

Our day trip to Bellingham was great. I was in a lot of pain so we just took our time, Kevin is very understanding and slows accordingly on my bad days.

Our first stop was the mall. We got a few good deals, my favorite being my new drifit long sleeve shirt. After the mall we hit Trader Joes. We got so much good stuff!! We hit Costco and Fred Meyer before stopping at 5 Guys burgers for dinner! My fave part of 5 Guys was the freshly roasted peanuts! So neat! Yes I am easily amused, thank you for asking !

Have I ever told you about my Pyrex and Lululemon addictions?!?! No! Another time I will get into it! Though I will tell you I acquired a few new pieces of both this weekend.

Muffin is currently enjoying some tummy rubs from Dad but she would like you to know she’s had a busy week!!

She had helped keep an eye on dinner!

Checked out some award winning Canadian cheddar !

Hung out with Maple!

Helped Nightlight (her coworker dog) locate misplaced toys at work!

Cuddled with Mom!

And avoided Jasmine! Sometimes sunning yourself on the pool deck is best left to the big dogs!!

Well friends that is a brief catch up on the past four days. The only thing else I can tell you about is my gym adventures. Not going to lie my my gym adventures are pretty uninteresting but necessary. I split my gym time between warm up, weights, cardio, and stretching. I’m seriously missing running but don’t dare until I talk to my specialist. I am considering rejoining water running as its low impact. Thinking about this is making me sad.

Well my blog reading team, Kevin is trying to talk me into going to a movie. I’m gonna talk him out of it with my sneaky ways!

Goodnight all!

Friday Before And After!

Jan4

Hi Friends, both new and old! I am very excited to see a few of you commenting. Thank you! So my day started off rather productive, Kev and Muffin had no intention of getting out of bed when I did, so I busied myself in the kitchen. Did some dinner prep, baked some banana bread, and finally made an omelette and English muffins to entice the other two lazy bones out of bed!!!

I thought it might be fun to show you some before and after photos of my kitchen adventures today!! Here we go! Greek lemon potatoes prepped to soak for the day in lemon juice, olive oil, white wine, garlic, and spices.

And after an hour in the oven this evening…

I made a bowl of homemade tzatziki because Greek potatoes just aren’t the same without it in my opinion. I used chopped cucumber, low fat Greek yogurt, dill, garlic, lemon juice, a little olive oil, and a touch of salt and pepper.

The finished product had a serious garlic kick. Just how we like it.

Kevin and I paired our Greek potatoes with some Barbqued pepper garlic pork tender loin and some sauteed zucchini with a sprinkle of parmasan.

It turned out pretty delightful, but im not going to lie I am glad I am not the one who had to stand outside in the dark to barbque the pork. Thanks Kevin! Love you.

Up next on my “To Do” list after prepping dinner this morning was to make a couple loaves of banana bread. I love baking and my friends and family don’t seem to mind because I always like to gift my creations. That way I don’t eat it all myself. Always thinking 😉

The final product, with a little Instagram filter action for your enjoyment!

If any of you would like me to post my recipes for anything I make please just let me know. I am considering adding a recipes tab if there is any interest.

I didn’t spend all day in the kitchen, though I could have today. I visited my parents and then this afternoon we ventured out to find some new oven mitts and of course as always with shopping I ended up with more then mitts. I got a new wallet, shorts for the gym, kitchen towels, and a few other things. The wallet was a necessity as mine decided to give up on life mid way through Christmas shopping last month. I finally found one I liked okay fine loved. It has owls on it, clearly I couldn’t say no.

When we got home from shopping Muffin was sure everything I purchased was simply hers and all made for a cozy bed.

As if spoiling myself wasn’t bad enough, my best friend Katie showed up this afternoon bearing gifts for me.

New Pj pants, a reusable owl bag and some Bath and body works bath gel. See told you I was spoiled! Katie is awesome, but she’s my friend you can’t have her! 😉 Okay find maybe I can share! You should know I managed to unload a good chunk of banana bread on her before she escaped my house.

Muffin would like me to show you all her before, during, and after her big yawn today.

So here we are before, just chilling with dad. No big thing!

Then it happened and i’m still not sure how I caught it on camera, but my little tiny nine pound fur ball let out the worlds biggest yawn. For a second I thought we were all going to be sucked into some sort of puppy black hole!

>;Promptly after the big yawn she went back to relaxing. You know the thing that takes up most of her doggy day!!

I need to reiterate that her life is hard people! So very hard! She is going for a groomer visit very soon to tame that mess of fur she has going on. I promise you will be shocked when you see her after a day at the spa. She will look ridiculous and not in a good way. You’ve been warned.

It has been raining here most of the day and I haven’t felt so great. Sometime soon I will get into the reason why I don’t feel so great lately but for now I won’t. I didn’t go to the gym as I had planned and I guess I just have to accept that for what it is. We did However spend a good solid hour walking today and I thankfully we did so indoors. I am going to take Muffin around the block and catch up on some blog reading before we call it a night. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day exercise wise.

Enjoy your Friday night friends!

Life With The McGavins

100% Not Sugar Coated